Hush
USA - 1998
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Movie Review By Blue Velvet
A grave disappointment for mystery lovers, Jonathan Darby's thriller, "Hush," unfolds itself way too flatly to be shocking, memorable or fractionally thought-provoking. Even with the help of the popular mega stars, Jessica Lange and Gwyneth Paltrow, Darby gives too little dimension to his characters and to his script so he's left with a very predictable lush-looking shell of a film.
In "Hush," a demonic control-freak mother manipulates her only son into moving out of New York City and back onto their horse breeding estate in the South. Trouble sets into motion once the son brings his newlywed pregnant wife along. A reknown horse breeder, the mother obsessively tailors the life of her future grandchild-to-be, excluding the notion that her daughter-in-law exists. A sharp New Yorker, the daughter-in-law soon unearths dirt on her mother-in-law and the two play head games with each other amidst genteel decorum.
The film sparingly intrigues with the promise of a mystery lying underneath the romantic veneer of that remote rolling estate. But as the film's core unwinds, audiences require very little guess work to figure out what will happen in the next scene or for that matter how the film will end. However "Hush" is hardly a waste of time for starry-eyed Gwyneth Paltrow fans. For what her limiting heroic role demands, Paltrow professionally turns a clean functional performance, and her presence helps glamourize the film. But fans of Jessica Lange may undergo a test of their patience because Lange's onscreen psychosis limits itself to the confines of trite dialogue delivered with a honey sweet Southern accent. So pigeonholed in her role, Lange just nervously twitches and coos alot.
However "Hush" is hardly a waste of time for starry-eyed Gwyneth Paltrow fans. For what her limiting heroic role demands, Paltrow professionally turns a clean functional performance, and her presence helps glamourize the film. But fans of Jessica Lange may undergo a test of their patience because Lange's onscreen psychosis limits itself to the confines of trite dialogue delivered with a honey sweet Southern accent. So pigeonholed in her role, Lange just nervously twitches and coos alot.
Some ads for the film list Pulitzer Prize-winning Michael Cristof as having co-written the script with Darby while others credit Jane Rusconi. Regardless of the film's literary alignment, "Hush" lacks the suspense and power to rise above the level of a casual video rental or a TV special.
© 1998 - Blue Velvet - Air Date: 03/11/98
