feast of love

Drama. Starring Greg Kinnear, Morgan Freeman, Radha Mitchell and Selma Blair. Directed by Robert Benton. (R. 102 minutes. At Bay Area theaters.

It's no wonder so many people in the Bay Area are moving to Oregon. According to the new movie "Feast of Love," great housing deals abound in Portland, the fortune-tellers give partial refunds and pretty much everyone gets naked - frequently having sex on the 50-yard line of the local university's football field.

The commercials for the latest movie by director Robert Benton are declaring this an early Oscar contender, and that may be a bit of a stretch. The multiple-story-line family drama is too cliche-ridden to be considered a great movie. But it's still a very good one, filled with excellent performances, entertaining writing and a final few scenes that are quite moving - even if you can see most of them coming at the end of the first act.

Benton has been a filmmaker for more than 40 years - he wrote the 1967 film "Bonnie and Clyde" - and he always seems to respect the strengths of his actors, while also coaxing out something new. Dustin Hoffman (Benton's "Kramer vs. Kramer") and Sally Field ("Places in the Heart") had established careers when those Benton-directed movies were released, and filmgoers were still rewarded with a side of those actors they hadn't seen before.

Greg Kinnear and Morgan Freeman are the standouts here as Bradley and Harry, an unlucky-in-love coffee shop owner and a college professor who has suffered a recent tragedy. Both are in pain - Harry's is dull and constant while Bradley's is occasional and overwhelming - but they find solace in each other, and several other characters who enter their lives.

Kinnear is particularly excellent, taking what at first looks like a sitcom character and layering him with nuances, including a self-destructiveness that's hidden deep within his optimistic exterior. Chances are good you know a guy like Bradley, and Kinnear's performance will make you understand him a lot better - and maybe leave soft Zoloft pamphlets around his desk. The friends and family in orbit of Harry and Bradley are no less interesting, but they have strengths and flaws that essentially reveal their fates early in the film. And the constant coincidences, some of which border on mysticism, become a small distraction. By the time Harry moves in next to Bradley, and neither man realizes it until the boxes are unpacked, cynical viewers may wonder if "Crash" director Paul Haggis was hanging out on the set. (Or if Portland has a residential area that's smaller than Benicia.)

When Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah" plays during a passionate scene between two young lovers, pop culture junkies will also feel slighted. That song should have been retired from soundtrack duty after television's "The O.C." used it more than two years ago. So should the idea that every poor guy under the age of 28 in movies drives an AMC Gremlin.

Fans of Charles Baxter's 2000 "Feast of Love" novel will no doubt be upset that several parts are missing in the movie version, including Bradley's painting that is the movie's namesake. But there's a people-are-good feeling permeating the film, which is difficult to resist. Allison Burnett's screenplay never feels particularly rushed, even though the film clocks in well under two hours. She definitely would have been a better person to write the 2005 HBO adaptation of "Empire Falls."

It's worth mentioning that just about everyone under age 60 gets naked in this film, most notably Radha Mitchell and Billy Burke as a pair of motel room lovers who like to lounge around nude and bicker over who's being more unfaithful to their spouse back at home. But the sex rarely seems gratuitous, except in one case where hard-luck coffeehouse employees Oscar and Chloe (Toby Hemingway and Alexa Davalos) consider starring in an adult film to pay the bills. Everyone knows that in real life, Chloe would become a stripper first, then move on to porn.

Everyone in "Feast of Love" looks hot, but no one is more alluring than the city of Portland, which should benefit from rising property rates if this film does any kind of box office.

-- Advisory: This film contains sex, adult language and lots of nudity. For those scoring at home, Selma Blair, Mitchell, Burke and Stana Katic all get naked. Kinnear may get naked, but it's kind of dark and hard to tell if it's him. Fred Ward wears a dirty white tank top, which thankfully stays on for the duration of the movie. Freeman and Jane Alexander don't get naked either, although Alexander fans can enjoy her sex scenes in "Tell Me You Love Me" on HBO.

Movie Mom: 'Eastern Promises,' 'The Feast of Love,' 'The Kingdom' This Feast is more like a hearty midnight snack. It makes one ponder the kinds of probing questions that can arise in the wee hours after a night of soul-searching.

Based on the novel by Charles Baxter, the film examines love and its complications from various angles. The characters' lives are bound by a sense of community that seems more like wishful thinking than reality. Think a less comedic Love Actually crossed with the pilot of thirtysomething, though with a more expansive character age range.

Multiple narratives are fluidly interwoven and the writing is often inspired, resulting in dialogue that feels honest and insightful, if occasionally mannered. The best story lines involve Morgan Freeman and Jane Alexander as a long-married couple, staunchly united but coping with personal loss. Greg Kinnear is a highlight as a kind man whose open-heartedness doesn't always translate to luck in love.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Love | Morgan Freeman | Greg Kinnear | Running time | MGM Studios | Game Plan | New York Times Magazine | Rated R
The story teeters on the edge of soap opera and emotional manipulation, but director Robert Benton (Kramer vs. Kramer) pulls back in the nick of time. What results is an involving and often poignant examination of love and loss. (Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity and language. Running time: 1 hour, 42 minutes.)

The Game Plan * * (out of four)

Family comedy and inspirational sports movies are among the ripest genres for clichés and formula. The Game Plan is no exception. Still, when this kind of family-friendly fare stars someone with the kind of charisma of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, the entire premise becomes more appealing. And an adorable child actress doesn't hurt.


CLIP: See The Rock go soft in 'The Game Plan'

Johnson combines an effective mix of swaggering charm, cluelessness and childish enthusiasm playing Joe Kingman, a hotshot NFL quarterback with a glamorous bachelor life. He knows how to tackle whatever comes his way on the field, but he's flummoxed by the arrival of a precocious 7-year-old girl (Madison Pettis) who claims to be his daughter.

Game Plan plays like an average sitcom that drags on. This sort of film shouldn't clock in at more than 90 minutes. There are worse ways to spend a few hours, but expect more predictability than laughs in this good-hearted, mindless entertainment. (Rated PG for some mild thematic elements. Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes.)

Trade * * *

Though it suffers from some structural flaws and an occasional reliance on melodrama, Trade is a compelling and terrifying look at a serious global problem.

The film illustrates the horrors of child trafficking and exploitation while it follows the ordeal of 13-year-old girl Adriana (superbly played by Paulina Gaitan) from Mexico City to the USA. Written by Jose Rivera (TheMotorcycle Diaries) and based on a New York Times Magazine article, the film brings into stark focus the expansive and horrifying parameters of child sex trafficking. Adriana is abducted while riding her bicycle, and her 17-year-old brother Jorge (an excellent Cesar Ramos) embarks on a perilous trip to get her back.

The only actor familiar to American audiences is Kevin Kline, playing a Texas cop who becomes Jorge's ally in tracking down Adriana. Some incidents feel forced, but the film is powerful, enhanced by the young actors' naturalistic performances and the chemistry between Kline and Ramos.

Trade unflinchingly sheds light on a heinous crime. Yes, it's tough to sit through. But don't let that keep you away. (Rated R for disturbing sexual material involving minors, violence including a rape, language and some drug content. Running time: 1 hour, 59 minutes. In select cities.)

That "Feast of Love" is an overstuffed melodrama is bad enough.

Feast of Love


? Cast: Morgan Freeman, Jane Alexander, Greg Kinnear, Selma Blair, Alexa Davalos, Toby Hemingway, Radha Mitchell, Billy Burke.
? Running time: 105 minutes.
? Rating: R; strong sexual content, nudity and language.

Even more troubling is the way the film, written by Allison Burnett, based on Charles Baxter's novel, regards women as idiots and objects.
Every actress gets fully, gratuitously naked at some point (except Jane Alexander, who manages to maintain some dignity alongside Morgan Freeman as her husband).
Kathryn (Selma Blair) abruptly leaves husband Bradley (Greg Kinnear) for a stereotypical, softball-playing lesbian. Another (Alexa Davalos) consults a psychic about her romance with a coffeehouse co-worker (Toby Hemingway), then goes into a tizzy of wedding- and baby-planning based on the forecast.
The worst (Radha Mitchell) is involved with a married man (Billy Burke), marries Bradley for stability, but continues her affair with an abusive lover.
All of this happens in and around Bradley's coffeehouse in Portland, Ore.
Bradley is a hopeless romantic, which serves him well when Kathryn dumps him. He's optimistic enough to try to find love again -- with Diana (Mitchell), a real-estate agent who's soon off for an afternoon tryst with her two-dimensionally arrogant paramour, David (Burke), who will never leave his wife for her.
A far more pure and passionate coupling occurs between hippie-chick Chloe (Davalos) and tormented Oscar (Hemingway), who instantly fall for each other when she walks into the coffeehouse looking for a job. Together they dream of having enough money to buy a house with a foyer and fill it with kids.
In the middle of all this is Harry (Freeman), a local philosophy professor and regular customer who watches all these people with wry amusement.
He and Alexander have a couple of lovely scenes together as a longtime married couple, but we don't see them enough in this film.

Information for parents deciding which movies are best for kids ages 2 to 18:

"Eastern Promises": This film has graphic and visceral violence, explicit sexual situations, prostitution, drinking, smoking and drug use and very strong language. If you like this, try another film with the same director and star, "A History of Violence," and another film by the same screenwriter, "Dirty Pretty Things."

"The Feast of Love": Sexual situations (gay and straight) are explicit, with nudity and adultery. There are alcohol and drug abuse references, very strong language and brief domestic violence. If you like this, try other movies with variations on themes of love and family, such as "Love, Actually" and "Parenthood," and also "A River Runs Through It," where the author says, "We can love completely without complete understanding."

"The Kingdom": A terrorist attack by suicide bombers results in the deaths of a hundred civilians, including children. Violence also includes torture, heavy artillery attacks and gruesome injuries. Characters smoke and use very strong language. If you like this, try "The Siege," "Arlington Road" and other political thrillers about the impact of terrorism