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Far from Heaven

  • 2002
  • PG-13
  • 1h 47m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
50K
YOUR RATING
Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, and Dennis Haysbert in Far from Heaven (2002)
Theatrical Trailer from Focus Features
Play trailer1:13
1 Video
99+ Photos
Period DramaDramaRomance

In 1950s Connecticut, a flustered housewife faces a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in the outside world.In 1950s Connecticut, a flustered housewife faces a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in the outside world.In 1950s Connecticut, a flustered housewife faces a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in the outside world.

  • Director
    • Todd Haynes
  • Writer
    • Todd Haynes
  • Stars
    • Julianne Moore
    • Dennis Quaid
    • Dennis Haysbert
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.3/10
    50K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Todd Haynes
    • Writer
      • Todd Haynes
    • Stars
      • Julianne Moore
      • Dennis Quaid
      • Dennis Haysbert
    • 413User reviews
    • 142Critic reviews
    • 84Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 4 Oscars
      • 102 wins & 96 nominations total

    Videos1

    Far From Heaven
    Trailer 1:13
    Far From Heaven

    Photos234

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    Top cast60

    Edit
    Julianne Moore
    Julianne Moore
    • Cathy Whitaker
    Dennis Quaid
    Dennis Quaid
    • Frank Whitaker
    Dennis Haysbert
    Dennis Haysbert
    • Raymond Deagan
    Patricia Clarkson
    Patricia Clarkson
    • Eleanor Fine
    Viola Davis
    Viola Davis
    • Sybil
    James Rebhorn
    James Rebhorn
    • Dr. Bowman
    Bette Henritze
    • Mrs. Leacock
    Michael Gaston
    Michael Gaston
    • Stan Fine
    Ryan Ward
    Ryan Ward
    • David Whitaker
    Lindsay Andretta
    Lindsay Andretta
    • Janice Whitaker
    Jordan Nia Elizabeth
    • Sarah Deagan
    • (as Jordan Puryear)
    Kyle Timothy Smith
    • Billy Hutchinson
    • (as Kyle Smyth)
    Celia Weston
    Celia Weston
    • Mona Lauder
    Barbara Garrick
    Barbara Garrick
    • Doreen
    Olivia Birkelund
    • Nancy
    Stevie Ray Dallimore
    Stevie Ray Dallimore
    • Dick Dawson
    Mylika Davis
    • Esther
    Jason Franklin
    • Photographer
    • Director
      • Todd Haynes
    • Writer
      • Todd Haynes
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews413

    7.350.4K
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    Featured reviews

    9Hitchcoc

    The Good Old Days!

    Having grown up on the wrong side of the tracks in the fifties, I have great appreciation for this film. Mine was a small town where everyone knew everyone else's business. This is a portrait of an incredible woman. It is played with a subtle touch by Julianne Moore. She faces two of the most incredible taboos that existed at that time: homosexuality (which was a mystery to everyone) and a woman's connection to a man of a different race (though entirely innocent). This brings out the hypocrisy and hatred, forced on enlightened people by a supposedly Christian society (actually things aren't that much different in 2010). This story is as simple as it is complex. The characters reveal themselves by their silences as much as their actions. Dennis Quaid's character could be seen as a victim, but he is personally hard to swallow. Yes, he should have the right to live and be happy, but his rants and his duplicity make him rather unappetizing. People talk about the good old days. They weren't so good for a large segment of the population.
    MitchellXL5

    breaking free

    While certainly this film is about race and sexual preference, I think its observations are actually much more universal. What it is about - and so many of the movies it references are also about - is how social structures work hard to prevent you from stepping outside your little world. People work hard to control attitudes towards outsiders - in this case, black people and homosexuals - in a negative way that not only keeps them out, but also keeps you in. Many people just don't like it when you seek something from the outside and will be manipulative to keep it so. Witness Patricia Clarkson, who is so manipulative that she has to remind Jualianne Moore how old and dear friends they - oldest and dearest - in such a way that it is a threat more than a comfort. And the film does this within the conventions of the genre it is putting itself in. In many ways, it merely uses the tawdry, cliched imagery of Hollywood soapers in such a way that, if you are not familiar, they may appear to be cliches here. But they are very intentional. And in this way, everything is controlled about the film - reactions, colors, everything. No wonder the characters need to break out of their worlds.
    10GodsLionesse

    Very Close to Heaven

    Todd Haynes' Far From Heaven, a homage to the 1950s melodramas of Douglas Sirk, is an exquisitely crafted film of beauty and grace. The world that Haynes creates is so meticulously detailed that one almost forgets that the movie isn't fifty years old.

    Julianne Moore deserves an Academy Award for her portrayal of Cathy Whitaker, a homemaker whose idyllic life begins to disintegrate when she learns that her husband is gay. Moore's Cathy is a delicate woman who would like to be courageous, but can't be because of the world that she is trapped in. As her innocence begins to die, she realizes how empty and superficial her life is. When she begins a cautious romance with her black gardener (Dennis Haysbert) she begins to see the racism and hypocrisy that forms the underbelly of a seemingly perfect world. At the end of the film Cathy has no illusions, and realizes that the life that she thought was perfect is actually a never-ending hell.

    Dennis Quaid is equally stunning as Cathy's tortured husband Frank. After Cathy discovers his homosexuality, the two are forced to grapple with a truth that neither of them can comprehend. Frank goes to a doctor for "treatment," and his confession is heartbreaking. He says that he "can't let this thing, this sickness, destroy my life. I'm going to beat this thing." We look at Frank and pity him because we realize that such a feat is impossible, and unnecessary, but Frank does not possess that knowledge. Frank begins to drink more, and when he finally breaks down and tells Cathy that he has fallen in love with another man, all of the anger, shame, and joy comes pouring out of him all at once. It is a supremely moving moment, and the best performance of Quaid has ever given.

    As the marriage between Cathy and Frank begins to unravel, the two also begin to fight. All of Cathy and Frank's arguments and confessions take place at night, bathed in shadows. The truth has no place in this bright, artificial world, and it must stay hidden at all costs. One night, when Frank tries to make love to Cathy and can't, Cathy tries to placate him, saying that he is "all man" to her. At that remark Frank hits her, and for a moment the audience does not breathe. Cathy then asks quietly for her husband to get her some ice. Cathy is all restraints, and it is only with her kind gardener that she has a chance to break free. The scenes between Moore and Haysbert crackle with erotic energy because everything remains unsaid. When Cathy finally asks him to dance with her, it is a moment when we realize what human beings are capable of being together.

    The fourth example of stellar acting comes from Patricia Clarkson as Cathy's best friend Eleanor. Eleanor is a bitter, gossipy, cold-hearted woman, and when she tells Cathy "I am your best friend," you want to scream to Cathy not to believe her. Clarkson makes the most of her rather limited screen time, and turns in a fascinatingly layered performance.

    Far From Heaven may very well be the best picture of the year. In creating an artificial world, Todd Haynes has managed to lay bare the human soul in a way that has never been done before. It is a moving and important motion picture, populated with some of the most nuanced acting I have ever seen. Cathy and Frank Whitiker may be far from heaven, but the film comes about as close to heaven as is possible.
    bob the moo

    Works on several levels (though some better than others)

    Cathy and Frank are a society couple in 1950's Connecticut. Their perfect house, perfect kids and happy marriage all contribute to making them the toast of the middle classes. However Frank's secret desire for men wrecks Cathy's image of their marriage but they manage to keep it a secret and seek help. When Cathy confides in her black gardener the rumours begin that again threaten Cathy's all-American society queen existence.

    It helps when writing a review of a film like this that you can throw round all the right references and draw comparison's wit the two Sirk films from which Haynes drew inspiration from. Sadly I can't do that as I haven't seen either of the works (although have seen some Sirk films), so I'll do the best I can! From the outset this film builds a plastic perfect 50's world before revealing that everything isn't as the outside world (and even those on the inside) may perceive. This works well but the film is strong because it works on several other levels past this one.

    Past the fake nature of lives – we are all human after all – are several other broader themes that are not as clear but still important. The place of women is society is one – where Frank's indiscretion appears to still let him work etc, Cathy much smaller crime sees her condemned from all around. Her relationship with Raymond shows how women held social status only as trophies in some circles and, when this role was threatened or made redundant, they had little more standing that blacks etc.

    The two fallings of Frank and Cathy are parallel and it is interesting to see the two. Frank stigma that he must hide is one of sexuality while Cathy is less lucky in that her stigma is as clear to observers as the skin on Raymond's face. This is not to say that the film works as well on each of these levels, but it does work well enough on all of them. It is slow and patient and it may frustrate some audiences who will claim `nothing really happens' – if a review says this then ignore it – they have clearly missed the point.

    The 50's feel is bang on and very well done. I'm not sure if Haynes has lifted the touches that make it feel `50's' from Sirk directly (i.e. copied) but it really works. The colours are lush and every set and costume feel like it must be straight from the 50's. It is to Haynes credit that he has done this without being camp or wistful in the way that many films set in the period can be. He plays it straight down the line.

    The cast are roundly good. Moore deversedly got her nomination for this work and she is excellent. She never goes over the top but is visibly simmering throughout. Quaid is good but has a less complex character to carry, we don't get to understand what he is going through or felling – is it deep guilt, lust, love etc? Haysbert in 24 is OK but plays a stiff, morally righteous man who is so `good' as to be difficult to swallow! Here it is not quite as bad but Raymond is still a ` good, wholesome' man. Haysbert does him well but again I wanted more to the character. The support cast are good and all play the plastic socialites and professionals of 1950's well.

    Overall this film is very lush – nothing but praise can be given to director, costumes and set designers etc. The cast are all good even if they must act with decorum and patience throughout and the emotion and drama of the story (although stilted and controlled) is still very involving. A very good film – if it had been made in the 50's it would be held as a classic today.
    abigailperkins-96187

    Fascinating experience

    Todd Haynes is an acquired taste but nobody can deny his gifted approach to filmmaking. Far from heaven is an interesting film starring Julianne Moore and with a look that evokes the films of the 50s. Everything about Far from Heaven playfully yet reverently alludes to the 1950s as a movie genre. The rich and digitally enhanced autumn leaves feature as tableaux, and as a discreet and tasteful design for the opening and closing credits. Elmer Bernstein's score imitates the lush foliage with its extravagantly emotional strings, later arranged with much emphasis on brooding keyboard and woodwind, dotting and crossing the drama's every "i" and "t". Mark Friedberg's production design is outstanding, surpassing his period work on Pollock and The Ice Storm. Sandy Powell's costumes are superb, especially for Moore herself who is allowed noticeably fuller skirts as the queen bee of her daiquiri-sipping ladies' circle, and some truly show stopping elbow-length gloves for a party scene.

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Cinematographer Edward Lachman created the 1950s "look" by using the same type of lighting equipment (incandescent), the same lighting techniques, and the same type of lens filters when shooting this film, as would have been used on a 1950s era melodrama.
    • Goofs
      The typewriter around the corner from Frank Whitaker's office is a late-model Selectric (circa 1971 at the earliest).
    • Quotes

      Cathy Whitaker: That was the day I stopped believing in the wild ardor of things. Perhaps in love, as well. That kind of love. The love in books and films. The love that tells us to abandon our lives and plans, all for one brief touch of Venus. So often we fail at that kind of love. The world just seems too fragile a place for it. And of every other kind, life remains full. Perhaps it's just we who are too fragile.

    • Crazy credits
      The first end credit reads "for Bompi"
    • Connections
      Featured in Anatomy of a Scene: Far from Heaven (2002)
    • Soundtracks
      Ballet Piece
      Written by Cynthia Millar

      Published by Caramandel Music

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    FAQ20

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 10, 2003 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • France
    • Official sites
      • Focus Features (United States)
      • John Wells Productions (United States)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Lejos del cielo
    • Filming locations
      • Fabian's Ritz Theatre - 1148 E. Jersey Street, Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA
    • Production companies
      • Focus Features
      • Vulcan Productions
      • Killer Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $13,500,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $15,901,849
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $211,279
      • Nov 10, 2002
    • Gross worldwide
      • $29,027,914
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 47 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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