Lasse Hallstrom's treatment of the John Irving Bildungsroman of the same name: a Second World War period piece centered around one Homer Wells (Tobey Maguire), an abused orphan -- "twice adopted, twice returned" -- and the chosen understudy to the kindly doctor and backdoor abortionist (Michael Caine) who runs the stately idyllic orphanage in rural Maine. An anti-abortionist himself, Homer eventually sets off in the company of a satisfied abortion customer (Charlize Theron, suited to the period in her Ann Sheridan ripeness, and, in one well-lit shot, lying prone in bed with nothing on, suited to the pages of the classiest men's magazine) to find his own way in the world. He finds it, curiously enough, in the nearby apple orchards, among a crew of migrant black laborers from down south. The opening section of the film whips up some instant poignance in the comings and goings, or in most cases comings and stayings, of the orphans ("Nobody ever wants me!"). The second section dispenses some appetizing tidbits on the cider business and also the lobster business. (The titular rules, a stiffly literary touch, are synonyms for any set of rules irrelevant to actual human affairs: papal bulls and the Ten Commandments, most relevantly.) We keep waiting for one of those twists or twitches of fate by which we can know for certain we are in John Irving's universe. The moment perhaps arrives when the hero's training in the orphanage catches up with him in the orchard, or perhaps in the doctor's undignified but not too implausible demise. There, too, however, the movie avoids the ridiculous extremes of other Irving adaptations. Gentle, wistful, sentimental, and folksy in tone, it is for the most part a drowsily unobjectionable slice of Americana, even counting the ham-fisted attempt to ram down our throats an irrefutable brief for pro-choice. The hero, at any rate, swallows it like a man. (1999) — Duncan Shepherd
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