DVD Movie Review: 'Bad Manners' is Sort of Good Fun
"Bad Manners” is very much what its title says: four people spend a weekend together seeing how bitter and tricky they can be. It’s available at video stores or at the Carson City Library.
The screenplay, by David Gilman, is based on his play “Ghost in the Machine,” originally produced at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre. It is bitter, a sort of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”. David Strathairn and Bonnie Bedelia play an unhappy older academic couple living in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Saul Rubinek and Caroleen Feeney play an unhappy younger academic couple who come to visit.
Directed by Jonathan Kaufer it is rated R for language and sexuality. Not that the sexuality is all that blatant.
This riveting drama has been adapted for the screen by David Gilman from his one-act play “Ghost in The Machine.” Director Jonathan Kaufer has drawn out fine performances from the four lead characters.
Wes (David Strathairn) and Nancy (Bonnie Bedelia) are childless Cambridge, Mass., academics locked in an unsatisfying middle-age marriage. Wes has just learned that the school where he teaches comparative religion has denied him tenure.
Now Matt (Saul Rubinek), Nancy's old flame, is arriving for a four-day visit with his companion Kim (Caroleen Feeney), a computer wiz. He is a musicologist who has been invited to deliver a lecture at Harvard on the work of a contemporary Vietnamese composer. With Kim's help, he has discovered a refrain from Martin Luther's "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" in the work of this young artist. Is it a computer glitch, an act of God, or a hoax?
Truth is never established. But Wes notices that $50 is missing. The civilized banter turns sour. They descend into a down-and-dirty encounter with each other's vulnerabilities. At stake are the trustworthiness of Kim, the marital fidelity of Wes, the devotion of Nancy, and the integrity of Matt.
Some nice dialogue, some bitter lines and some sexy moments, enough to win an R rating. This is an independent film and it shows as almost all action takes place in a big old house that Wes bought. If you’re not in a mood for bitchiness, skip this one. Otherwise enjoy movies as they were made in 1998. It got good critical ratings, and Feeney is a beauty. And very seductive, especially when she is rolling her eyes for impact.
—Sam Bauman, Carson Now movie critic