However, my take on the title has not blinded me to the affirmation of greatness reviewers, readers, and audiences have shouted for The Cider House Rules in both book and play versions. "The Cider House Rules RULES!"

Of course, I've not read the book or seen the play. I'm coming to this one fresh.

Or almost fresh. From what I've heard, The Cider House Rules is a dark book, a dark play. The movie, as directed by Lasse Hallström, has dark moments, kind of, but it's mostly a languid, soft, moving, and beautiful movie. Whether this fits with John Irving's original version or not, I can't say. But he did write the screenplay and he was around for shooting, so he certainly has a hand in this whole flick business.

I really enjoyed sitting and letting this movie wash over me. Like the main character, Homer, the movie just takes it easy. It doesn't get riled, it doesn't get excited, yet it gives weight to what requires it. Its heart is big, and its dramas, both small and tragic, are simple.

This film is all acting. Yes, it is gorgeously shot in the beautiful, multi-seasonal tones of Massachusetts and Maine, but this is all just a setting for the fantastic acting. The film's center is Homer, played by Tobey Maguire (The Ice Storm, Pleasantville). Homer was raised in an orphanage by Dr. Wilbur Larch (Michael Caine). He's seen the gruesome results of unwanted pregnancy: botched abortions, dying mothers, children who will never have a mother or father. But he has also been raised with love and care, as all the children in the orphanage have. Homer is a complex mixture of innocence, intelligence, and practicality. His world experience is extremely limited, but not without conflict and emotion. He is naive but not stupid. He's gentle, honest, caring. Quite a collection of traits to store in a character. Tobey plays Homer with an inner intensity and outward gentleness. He's subtle. What could have been a pathetic or unbelievable character is made by Tobey likable and sympathetic. It's moving to watch.

Michael Caine is fantastic. His Dr. Larch is a father to Homer and to all the children of the orphanage. He has his troubles, like an addiction to ether, but he cares so much for helping people that he is, overall, a good man. The things he does to Homer—his stubbornness when Homer wants to leave, his emotional manipulation in his letters—are things a father would do for a son he loves. He doesn't abuse Homer in any way, he just tries to protect him, wants the best for him. Michael plays Dr. Larch as a burdened man, perhaps living with the horrors his job presents to him, but he's proud, too, finding in his job a sort of salvation of those who would otherwise be worse off. Michael inhabits Dr. Larches closed-off world with supreme comfort, like he belongs there without question. This is an amazing performance.

I was surprised by Charlize Theron. I didn't like her in Mighty Joe Young, so I was... Oh, wait. I never saw Mighty Joe Young. Okay, I didn't like her in the trailer for Mighty Joe Young, so I wasn't sure if I'd like her or not. She was very good. I read something that said she is the perfect type for the period portrayed in the movie (the late 1940s), and it's true. She looks great as a '40s babe, utterly believable. Charlize's Candy is a light femme fatale, but also a loving if frustrated girlfriend. She is always having to balance her responsibility to her boyfriend Wally, an Air Force pilot who is always away, and her need to live, as represented by her emotions for Homer. Charlize plays well between light carefree happiness and overwhelming angst.

Delroy Lindo is extremely strong as Mr. Rose, Howard's boss on the apple farm. Mr. Rose is complex, a character who gains your respect then turns the tables on you. Delroy inhabits Mr. Rose with passion and feeling, a man both strong and weak, a guy who succumbs to a horrible temptation that makes you question why. There is much to think about Mr. Rose. Erykah Badu is great as Rose Rose, Mr. Rose's daughter. The orphans are also very well cast to be cute but not disgustingly over sweet. Paul Rudd is perfect as Wally.

What I liked about The Cider House Rules is its close feeling. You may want to stop reading here if you don't want any more details. I like that Homer's life journey is so short and so geographically small, but that it's so large in emotional and spiritual scope. Homer doesn't have to travel the world, as Wally does, to gain experience. And most of all, he really doesn't need to go anywhere to find the comfort and love of a family. Dr. Larch is partly right when he tells Homer that everything he needs is at the orphanage, because that's where Homer finds love, acceptance, and comfort. But Homer needs to travel, even if just a short way, to realize this. This is a common theme in every form of entertainment, but Lasse's movie and John's story present the message in a unique and moving way. Homer gets to see that the outside world is just as closed off as St. Cloud's orphanage. Decisions Homer avoided having to make in the orphanage end up having to be made in the outside world anyway. Homer may as well make those decisions and change the lives of the people around him in the place he knows is home.

There's something about being settled and comfortable that makes a lot of us, especially in this bustling age, feel disturbingly mellow and, perhaps, morose. At the same time, having a place for yourself gives you a feeling deep inside that is undeniably attractive, warm, and lasting. You may want other things for yourself, you may want to experience more of the world, you may believe you are missing out on life's possibilities, but the warm tones of a home, any kind of home, conspire to hold you. The feeling The Cider House Rules captures most honestly is the happiness and sadness of knowing you are already where you need to be.

—Steve

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