Lives of several New Yorkers are interconnected in Anesthesia and some are more
interesting than others. The cast is headed by Sam Waterston and Glenn Close
as a philosophy professor at Columbia University and his wife and it's the eve of
his retirement. He's just given a final capstone lecture and I have to say it ranks
with some of the great orations that Spencer Tracy did in the classic Hollywood
era. Nice to see that there are some players who can still do that.
There's a dimension to Waterston's performance that will not happen for future generations viewing this film. They won't have had 15 years of watching him as Jack McCoy the symbol of societal authority in Law And Order. When he's attacked on the street and seeks aid by randomly ringing apartment doorbells to be buzzed in it's like society itself being attacked. 50 years from now someone watching Anesthesia won't have that context.
The film opens with Waterston's mugging and with K. Todd Freeman coming to his aid and both wounded. Then it flashes back 48 hours and we see how things got to that point.
I also have to point out a small but telling performance of Twilight's Kristen Stewart as one of Waterston's students. This is a girl with a lot of issues and while she likes her teacher she finds no comfort in his answers concerning life's meaning.
Another standout is young Ben Konigsberg trying very hard to lose his virginity. His naivete even through smoke clouds of pot is appealing.
K. Todd Freeman is also a standout as a junkie himself trying to get his life back together and getting a lot of tough love from those around him.
It's a good ensemble that director Tim Blake Nelson put together for this most New York of stories.
There's a dimension to Waterston's performance that will not happen for future generations viewing this film. They won't have had 15 years of watching him as Jack McCoy the symbol of societal authority in Law And Order. When he's attacked on the street and seeks aid by randomly ringing apartment doorbells to be buzzed in it's like society itself being attacked. 50 years from now someone watching Anesthesia won't have that context.
The film opens with Waterston's mugging and with K. Todd Freeman coming to his aid and both wounded. Then it flashes back 48 hours and we see how things got to that point.
I also have to point out a small but telling performance of Twilight's Kristen Stewart as one of Waterston's students. This is a girl with a lot of issues and while she likes her teacher she finds no comfort in his answers concerning life's meaning.
Another standout is young Ben Konigsberg trying very hard to lose his virginity. His naivete even through smoke clouds of pot is appealing.
K. Todd Freeman is also a standout as a junkie himself trying to get his life back together and getting a lot of tough love from those around him.
It's a good ensemble that director Tim Blake Nelson put together for this most New York of stories.