DVD Review: Other Voices, Other Rooms - Page 3

Amy is so brittle she looks like she could shatter into a million pieces at any moment. She is resentful of being asked to do the things Randolph has her doing to preserve their secret, and jealous of the time he spends with Joel. In the end she is the one who spills the secret that they've been hiding, not because of any remorse, but because she's tired of not being the centre of attention.

Anna Levine is not given much to work with Amy; it would be easy to play her as one long whine, but she manages to get beneath that surface and show the genuinely lost person under the petulance. When Randolph pays attention to her, she is suffused with happiness, and Ms. Levine is able to give us glimpses of what Amy could have been if she had not been deprived of her potential.

David Speck, as young Joel, is very convincing. His reluctance to befriend Randolph wars with his love of the exotic and make believe. Speck is able to show the conflicts that Joel has with wanting to live this strange life with Randolph and Amy, while at the same time realizing there is something wrong.

The contrast between Joel's almost adult nature and Randolph's irresponsibility in the scenes they share, show just how dysfunctional the Skully clan are. When an eleven year old boy is the practical one offering advice to the adults, you know the world is inverted.

This is a well-directed and well-scripted adaptation of a straightforward story by Truman Capote. There's nothing really fancy; no big stars or special effects. It's one rarest of things these days; a nice well-acted movie with a good story, and technically pleasing to the eye.

That may not seem like much, but in these days of multibillion-dollar epics and overblown characters, (on and off the screen) it's nice to be reminded that there are still movies out there content to tell a story. Other Voices, Other Rooms is a pleasure to watch from start to finish for that very reason.

Article Author: Richard Marcus

Richard Marcus is the author of the What Will Happen In Eragon IV? and The Unofficial Heroes Of Olympus Companion, both published by Ulysses Press. He has had his work published in print and online all over the world including the German edition of Rolling Stone Magazine and www.Qantara.de. …

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