I remember seeing this film at the theatre and hoping to God that it would end soon, really soon. The film has no action or interaction what-so-ever. The characters are only speaking into the camera, telling you the story of the film. I would say this is along the lines of the theatre of the absurd, like Ianesco, but unlike Ianesco, I was not able to visualize what the characters were relating. I think it was because they were staring me straight in the face. That, and Mike Nichols has that face you can't take seriously. Especially when he is talking about masturbation and crapping on people's writings. He should stick to directing. In all fairness, the last scene in the movie was really moving and gave me goose bumps. Unfortunately, I waited for what seemed like years for this to happen. Honestly, I think this was a great story, but it should never have been made into a film, and surely not as it was made. I would have much preferred to have read the play (or script) and had my own vision of what was happening instead of being stared at in the face by the characters. As a book, or play it would have been brilliant. As a movie it sucked. I give it a 3 because it was a good story but was a disaster as a film. Don't waste your time unless you like books on tape and don't plan on sitting down to actually watch Mike Nichols talk about his penis and fecal fantasies.
Review of The Designated Mourner
