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Written by: William Styron (based on the novel: "Sophie's Choice" by), Alan J. Pakula (screenplay)
Directed by: Alan J. Pakula
Starring: Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Peter MacNicol
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
Polish immigrant Sophie hides a dark secret from her past, living in a Brooklyn boarding house with her boyfriend Nathan and young writer Stingo.
Verdict
This is a meandering movie that plants seeds about Sophie's past as she's caught between two men, one too naive the other erratic. Sophie's past is heartbreaking, but it's the only real draw of this movie and it manages to drag it out for two hours. It's the final twenty minutes that elevates the rest of this movie, a gut punch that's heartbreaking. It just takes way too long to get there even with Streep's phenomenal performance.
It depends.
Review
This is one of those movie's that I've heard mentioned many times but I've never seen it. When I saw it suggested on a streaming site, I decided to finally watch it.
Stingo (Peter MacNicol) moves to a New York apartment in 1947 and quick meets Nathan (Kevin Kline) and Sophie (Meryl Streep) as Nathan assaults her. They become acquaintances.
This is a slow movie, and I wondered what's the drive? We get a flashback of how Nathan and Sophie met, but the relationship between them is weird as it seems Stingo likes Sophie. One night he gets back from a failed date and has a nightcap with Sophie where she talks about her time in Germany and a concentration camp. Sophie rebuffs Stingo, telling him he's too young and doesn't understand. It seems Sophie is older than she seems, having been married before.
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| Meryl Streep, Peter MacNicol play Sophie, Stingo |
Nathan is over the top, and I wondered if he was manic depressive and in this time period people just didn't know. You'd think Sophie likes Stengo, but if so why is she with Nathan? Does she feel indebted, trapped since she lives with him, or that she doesn't deserve better? He can be downright mean, but our first introduce to him was assaulting Sophie.
In the past Sophie used her hate of others as a ploy to avoid the concentration camp which doesn't work. You get why she'd want out, but it's uncomfortable to use bigotry. It undermines the character we've seen, even if we understand. She faces the hypocrisy of the commandant who thinks she looks German enough to sleep with but she's not worthy of living.
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| Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline play Sophie, Nathan |
Sophie has made comments about being an unfit mother, and in the end we see why she feels that way even if it's not her fault. She was forced to make an impossible choice, and that trauma weighs you down. It's clear Sophie is plagued by the choice. Knowing Sophie's past makes Streep's performance all the better as we realize what she brought to that role and the depth from the beginning.
This easily could have ended after Sophie's story or even after the next scene, but this movie just keeps going and going. The final piece of Sophie's story gives this movie a bump, whether it's deserved depends on your point of view. This draws out her story longer than it should, but it also reveals why Sophie stays with Nathan and seems to avoid happiness. At the same time, the ending feels a bit manipulative and hollow against the rest of the movie.
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