Adoration (2008)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Atom Egoyan

Writer:

Atom Egoyan (written by)

Release Date:

15 April 2009 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

For his French-class assignment, a high school student weaves his family history in a news story involving terrorism, and goes on to invite an Internet audience in on the resulting controversy. |

Plot Keywords:

Controversy | French Class | Terrorism | High School | Pregnant Girlfriend

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Scott Speedman	...	Tom
Rachel Blanchard	...	Rachel
Kenneth Welsh	...	Morris
Devon Bostick	...	Simon
Aaron Poole
Dominic Cuzzocrea	...	Cab Driver
Katie Boland	...	Hannah
Noam Jenkins	...	Sami
Arsinée Khanjian	...	Sabine
Geraldine O'Rawe	...	Carole
Duane Murray	...	Parking Security
Hailee Sisera	...	Jennifer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Maury Chaykin
Soo Garay	...	Anna / daughter
Ieva Lucs	...	Irate Woman

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

USA:100 min | France:100 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

USA:R | Netherlands:12 | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Ego Film Arts

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene at the end of the film at his grandfather's empty lake house, Simon first unloaded the wooden Christmas figures from his duffel bag onto a pile of firewood on the dock. He then went into his grandfather's workshop and sawed the scroll off of his mother's violin. With his phone, he took a picture of the severed scroll in his hand with the dock in the background, but the dock was empty.

Connecting the dots

When I saw The Sweet Hereafter years ago, I thought Atom Egoyan was one of the greatest directors alive, and the subsequent films haven't really shaken that belief. If Adoration is not up to the standard of his best work, it is still well worth seeing. The story is one of terrible loss and forgiveness, and the acting is superb. We are connecting the dots--from racist grandfather to despairing mother to an orphan teenager (played by the excellent Devon Bostick) with big issues around truth and responsibility. The boy's uncle has a lot of issues himself; we can see that being a tow-truck driver is gnawing at his soul (made me think of Repo Man). Scott Speedman as the uncle is really good, he's hiding behind a beard, giving curt responses to Arsinée Khanjian's questions.

A problem: lots of use of internet chat rooms to flesh out the story; disembodied, undramatic characters for Simon to interact with (watch for the great Maury Chaykin to heat things up somewhat). Technology is not a launching pad for art, it's just information retrieval or anger management.