Simon Birch
USA 1998
Reviewed by Richard Kelly
Synopsis
Our synopses give away the plot in full, including surprise twists.
Revisiting his hometown in adulthood, Joe Wenteworth remembers his best friend Simon Birch, who was born in 1952 and died in 1964. The smallest infant ever delivered at Gravestown Memorial Hospital, Simon grew to be a diminutive boy, well liked by other kids but neglected by his parents. At Sunday school he drove the Reverend Russell to distraction by insisting that he was an instrument of God. Joe was the illegitimate son of town beauty Rebecca, who wouldn't reveal the name of his father. Rebecca was romanced by drama teacher Ben Goodrich, who gradually earned Joe's approval. At a baseball game, Simon's first hit struck and killed Rebecca.
Simon's friendship with Joe survived the tragedy, but the baseball was stolen. Joe was certain his real father was the thief. Suspecting swimming coach Mr Baker, Joe and Simon broke into his office, but were caught and sentenced to community service on a church-run retreat. Cast as baby Jesus in a nativity play, Simon disrupted the performance and Russell barred him from the retreat. Simon retrieved his confiscated collection of baseball cards from Russell's study, and found the missing baseball. He and Ben raced to the retreat, but Russell had confessed to Joe. On the journey home, a road accident caused the school bus to plunge into a river, but Simon's initiative saved the other children. Simon died in hospital, a hero. Joe was adopted by Ben.
Review
Once asked whether his protagonists' lives were 'predestined', Robert Bresson replied, "Aren't we all?" So steadfast was Bresson's conviction he customarily foretold the outcome of his narratives, as in the perfectly transparent title of A Man Escaped/Un condamné à mort s'est échappé (1956). Simon Birch also signposts its dramatic cruces quite unabashedly, but its version of the transcendent is pure Hollywood, a cereal box with a crackerjack miracle at the bottom.
"Suggested by" John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany, the screenplay by director Mark Stephen Johnson (scriptwriter of Grumpy - and Grumpier Old Men) has been carpentered out of episodes from that novel with Irving's approval. The present-day bookends and earnest voiceover fall to Jim Carrey, attempting the sort of kindly cameo essayed by Richard Dreyfuss in Stand by Me. The voiceover foretells crucial plot points, such as Rebecca's freakish demise and the finale of Simon's martyrdom. But this is quite in tune with the conviction of our eponymous hero, a child of miraculously low birth weight who maintains that the Almighty has a plan for him.
Essentially this is a tale of two orphans, and it yields to the fantasies with which orphans may console themselves. For a while at least, fatherless Joe has a knockout mom in the shape of Ashley Judd. Simon's parents, meanwhile, are poor, unattractive and care not a whit for him, so he gladly accepts Rebecca's surrogate attentions. So when fate steals Rebecca away, both boys are robbed and Simon joins in Joe's quest to find an upstanding father.
Figuring out the twist in Joe's paternity won't tax many viewers, least of all those who've seen Paul Schrader's Light of Day. But as Reverend Russell, the excellent John Sayles alumnus David Strathairn looks uneasy loaning his naturalistic depth to this school-age fable. Small wonder, then, that Joe is won over by Oliver Platt's hugely amiable Ben, a wry, straight-faced clown who courts Joe's favour by bringing a stuffed armadillo to dinner.
Ian Michael Smith also excels as the wiseacre Simon and Joseph Mazzello is very likable as Joe. Elsewhere, an air of déjà vu descends. Joyous 60s pop tunes ('Nowhere to Run', 'Up on the Roof' and 'Can I Get a Witness') are poured over scenes like so much period gravy. Marc Shaiman's score could have been sparser; instead it spoonfeeds the audience throughout. Aaron E. Schneider's camera sweeps around like a busy broom, and the visual style is all honey-hued shafts of light, as befits matters religiose.
The obligatory deathbed scene is worth a tear or two, but leaves an unpalatable aftertaste. Ultimately this movie tells us it's more or less OK to be different, but you might just have to die for it. Thus the divinely ordained purpose of Simon's life is to surrender it, in a crisis supremely fit for a pint-sized sacrifice, so that 13 correctly proportioned children can live. The feel-good factor hides a neo-Malthusian mean spirit. Should we be feeding this stuff to our kids?
Credits
- Producers
- Laurence Mark
- Roger Birnbaum
- Screenplay
- Mark Stephen Johnson
- Suggested by the novel A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
- Director of Photography
- Aaron E. Schneider
- Editor
- David Finfer
- Production Designer
- David Chapman
- Music
- Marc Shaiman
- ©Hollywood Pictures Company
- Production Companies
- Hollywood Pictures present in association with Caravan Pictures a Roger Birnbaum/Laurence Mark production
- Executive Producer
- John Baldecchi
- Co-producer
- Billy Higgins
- Associate Producer
- Howard Ellis
- Production Co-ordinators
- Susan Phillips
- 2nd Unit:
- George Patterson
- Unit Production Managers
- Billy Higgins
- Brian Leslie Parker
- 2nd Unit:
- Lee R. Mayes
- Location Managers
- Byron Martin
- 2nd Unit:
- Rowland Kirks
- Debbie Laub
- 2nd Unit Directors
- Mickey Gilbert
- Glenn R. Wilder
- Assistant Directors
- Howard Ellis
- Tom Quinn
- Michele Rakich
- 2nd Unit:
- Carla Bowen
- Script Supervisor
- Mimi Wolch
- Casting
- Mary Gail Artz
- Barbara Cohen
- Toronto:
- Ross Clydesdale
- ADR Voice:
- Barbara Harris
- 2nd Unit Directors of Photography
- Hiro Narita
- Donald M. McCuaig
- Camera Operators
- Angelo Colavecchia
- Underwater:
- Mike Thomas
- Canada:
- Tony Guerin
- A.J. Vesak
- Visual Effects
- Modern VideoFilm
- Visual Effects Supervisor:
- Joe Bauer
- Visual Effects Producer:
- Annemarie Griggs
- Digital Artists:
- Rick Cortés
- Brent Gilmartin
- Rick Shick
- Special Effects Supervisor
- Ted Ross
- Art Directors
- Dennis Davenport
- 2nd Unit:
- Gregory Bolton
- Set Decorators
- Carolyn A. Loucks
- 2nd Unit:
- Joseph G. Pacelli Jr
- Scenic Artist
- Tim Murton
- Costume Designers
- Betsy Heimann
- Abram Waterhouse
- Wardrobe
- Supervisor:
- Cori Burchell
- Master:
- Lou DeCampo
- 2nd Unit, Supervisor:
- Gail McMullen
- Make-up
- Artist:
- Marilyn Terry
- 2nd Unit:
- Steve Artmont
- Hairstylists
- David R. Beecroft
- 2nd Unit:
- Linda Trainoff
- Main and End Titles Design
- Nina Saxon/New Wave Entertainment
- Opticals
- Buena Vista Imaging
- Howard Anderson
- Piano Soloist
- Ralph Grierson
- Score Conductors
- Artie Kane
- Pete Anthony
- Orchestrations
- Jeff Atmajian
- Frank Bennett
- Patrick Russ
- Pete Anthony
- Music Supervisor
- Allan Mason
- Executive in Charge of Music, Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group
- Kathy Nelson
- Music Editor
- Scott Stambler
- Score Recordist/Mixer
- Dennis Sands
- Music Programmer
- Nick Vidar
- Soundtrack
- "You Were There" by/performed by Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds; "Bread and Butter" by Jay Turnbow, Larry Parks, performed by The Newbeats; "Mickey's Monkey" by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Edward Holland Jr, performed by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles; "Can I Get a Witness" by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Edward Holland Jr, performed by Marvin Gaye; "Fever" by John Davenport, Eddie Cooley, performed by Peggy Lee; "For Your Love" by Ed Townsend, performed by The Righteous Brothers; "Up on the Roof" by Gerry Goffin, Carole King, performed by The Drifters; "Peter Gunn Theme" by Henry Mancini; "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag (Part 1)" by/performed by James Brown; "Nowhere to Run" by Lamont Dozier, Edward Holland Jr, performed by Martha Reeves & the Vandellas; "It's All Right" by Curtis Mayfield, performed by The Impressions; "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" by J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie, performed by Patti LaBelle & The Blue Belles
- Digital Sound Design/Editing
- Soundswild, Inc
- Production Sound Mixer
- Glen Gauthier
- 2nd Unit Sound Mixer
- Hank Garfield
- Digital/Analog Audio Engineering
- Frank Long
- Re-recording Mixers
- Matthew Iadarola
- Gary Gegan
- Don DiGirolamo
- Supervising Sound Editor
- Dane A. Davis
- Dialogue Editor
- Charles W. Ritter
- Sound Effects Editors
- Geoff Rubay
- Mark Yardas
- ADR
- Supervisor:
- James Borgardt
- Editor:
- Allan Bromberg
- Foley
- Supervisor:
- Valerie Davidson
- Editor:
- Tom Hammond
- Stunt Co-ordinators
- Alison Reid
- 2nd Unit:
- Tim Davison
- Animal Handlers
- Creative Animal Talent
- Mark Dumas
- Ian Doig
- Cast
- Ian Michael Smith
- Simon Birch
- Joseph Mazzello
- Joe Wenteworth
- Ashley Judd
- Rebecca Wenteworth
- Oliver Platt
- Ben Goodrich
- David Strathairn
- Reverend Russell
- Dana Ivey
- Grandmother Wenteworth
- Beatrice Winde
- Hildie Grove
- Jan Hooks
- Miss Leavey
- Cecilley Carroll
- Marjorie
- Sumela-Rose Keramidopulos
- Ann
- Sam Morton
- Stuart
- Jim Carrey
- adult Joe Wenteworth
- John Mazzello
- Simon Wenteworth
- Holly Dennison
- Mrs Birch
- Peter MacNeil
- Mr Birch
- Addison Bell
- Doctor Wells
- Roger McKeen
- Coach Higgins
- Sean McCann
- Chief Al Cork
- John Robinson
- Mr Baker
- Guy Sanvido
- janitor
- Gil Filar
- Eddie
- Marcello Meleca
- Howard Ellis
- Tim Hall
- pitcher
- Tom Redman
- 1st baseman
- Mark Skrela
- 3rd baseman
- Kevin White
- shortstop
- Terry V. Hart
- Alan Markfield
- umpires
- Christopher Marren
- rival baseball coach
- Tommy Dorrian
- Justin Marangoni
- teammates
- Tyler Cairns
- Sheep
- Gino Giacomini
- wise man
- Barbara Stewart
- delivery room nurse
- David Rigby
- bus driver
- Sam Aaron
- David Chapman
- old men
- Wendy Fleming
- Mrs Russell
- Paul De Fibo
- Dalton Rondell
- Cameron Croughwell
- Logan Holladay
- Scotty Leavenworth
- Devon Alan
- Joshua Titen
- Tony Orr
- Joshua Croughwell
- Jeffrey Schoeny
- Derek Montgomery
- Sean Sullivan
- Devon Borisoff
- Taylor Emerson
- Brian McLaughlin
- Nicholas Andrew
- Sean Flynn Amir
- Patrick McTavish
- Blake Hubbell
- Cody Gill
- Ramiro Gonzalez III
- Mitchell Orr
- Trevor Habberstad
- Junior Lambs, LA
- Certificate
- PG
- Distributor
- Buena Vista International (UK)
- 10.249 feet
- 113 minutes 52 seconds
- SDDS/Dolby digital/Digital DTS sound
- In Colour
- Prints by
- Technicolor