Sophie's Choice
Director: Alan J. Pakula
Year Released: 1982
Rating: 2.0
Young writer goes to Brooklyn to find his muse, ends up in the middle of a convulsive relationship between Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline, neither of which are emotionally stable. The flashback sequences work best, showing Streep as a young Pole trying to survive amidst the turmoil of WWII, but the rest does not - Kline's role, no matter how Styron or Pakula explain it, feels a little gimmicky (his behavior is explained, I just didn't buy it), and the picture moves forward too slowly, building up to a final monologue about exactly what "choice" Sophie had to make (by the time it comes up, the picture is over). Ebert wrote that the novel is about the young man's coming to terms with suffering - that angle seems somewhat glazed over here in favor of extended long takes of Streep's face, deathly pale and haunted. She deserved her Oscar for what sounds like flawless broken English.
