FINDING FORRESTER

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Because of: foul language, thematic elements

Rated:

A slow moving piece with only fragments of things to say, Finding Forrester will appeal to many people merely for its intriguing premise, the notoriety of the director, and for Sean Connery's performance. But actually the most brilliant piece of acting in the production comes from the notable talents of Anna Paquin, the youngest actress in the world to ever win an Oscar. It's not really hard to see why at the age of nine she stepped onto the podium at the Academy Awards... this girl has it.

Jamal (Rob Brown) lives with his mother in a run-down part of the Bronx, playing basketball with his buddies and secretly writing short stories in his notebooks after class. Keeping his grades low enough to avoid suspicion from his friends, yet high enough to keep the teachers intrigued, he is more caught up by current interests... namely "The Window." An apartment overlooking the park is the object of much speculation, since its occupant never comes out and is only rarely seen. Food, clothing, and other items are delivered regularly by a pricey delivery man. Professing that everything they believe about "The Window" is bunk, he accepts a dare to sneak up into the apartment and take something one night after school. But the inevitable occurs... he's caught sneaking around in the corridor and flees in terror, leaving his precious backpack behind. Too afraid to go back for it, he rues the loss of his manuscripts... until the pack is tossed down through the window at him. Relieved, he checks to make certain everything is intact... but it's not. The mysterious occupant of the upstairs apartment has edited all of his writing in red ink.

Realizing that "The Window" is right in his corrections, Jamal challenges his own fear and goes to ask the man for help. An angry, embittered, agoraphobic shut-in, William (Sean Connery) is hardly interested... but the boy's persistence finally breaks through his shell and he agrees to help him. About this time, a prestigious school offers Jamal a basketball scholarship. There he is befriended by Claire Spence (Anna Paquin), a wealthy outcast whose father rules the board. Loathed by one of his fellow players for his talents on the court, Jamal has also attracted the attention of his English professor (F. Murray Abraham).

Apparently the paper he's turned in, with the help of William, is stunning... too good to have been written by a C+ student. At this same time, they're asked to study an author who only penned one book, an "All-American classic." Strangely, he never wrote another page after its completion. The picture on the back flap looks suspiciously like Jamal's writing tutor... could he be the world-renowned William Forrester, a Pulitzer-award-winning author? an enigma in his own right? Why did he never write another book? Why has the English teacher so much animosity toward the man's memory? These questions mingle into a much larger picture as Jamal attempts to pursue his dreams and break out of his shell to become the man he was meant to be. Finding Forrester looks like an appealing, mysterious piece of work, but I found that it was often predictable, slow-moving and understated. There's nothing really wrong with it, but I merely wasn't impressed overall. Sean doesn't really fit the character of William Forrester, although he tries his hardest. I couldn't really understand the elements of street humor, and the outcome was fairly predictable.

Content-wise, there's a lot of street language including some abuse of deity and two f-words. I don't mind some profanity, but got pretty tired of bulls--t being every other word. There's some innuendo (Forrester says that authors only read their books in public to get beautiful woman to sleep with them, in somewhat coarser terms), and twice we overhear the neighbors fooling around in their apartment (something banging against the wall, and a woman moaning). The ending is satisfactory, and it was fun seeing such a great cast pulled together in a film that was probably difficult to pull off. In many ways, being a writer myself I could relate to Jamal and Forrester both. Some of the humor is lighthearted and appealing, and the scene between Claire and Jamal on the patio is both romantic and memorable. It won't appeal to a wide demographic of viewers, but some many find it a diverting way to spend the afternoon.