Susan Granger’s review of “ILLUMINATA” (Artisan Entertainment)
After “Shakespeare in Love,” this sumptuously presented but overly long story of behind-the-scenes actors pales in comparison. But you have to credit it as a labor of love by John Turturro, who co-wrote, directed, and acted in it. Set amid a flamboyant turn-of-the-century New York repertory company, it revolves around a failing resident playwright, John Turturro, whose claim to fame is his marriage to the troupe’s leading lady, played by Katherine Borowitz, Turturro’s real-life wife. The playwright yearns to shelve the heavy-handed melodramas of the period as he aspires to a more naturalistic style of theater, but no one believes in him. “Illuminata” is both the title of a play-within-the-movie and what he eventually calls his wife after they survive treachery, back-biting, and intrigue – not to mention the on-stage death of the leading man mid-performance on opening night. Susan Sarandon is glorious as the promiscuous, aging diva who glances at a young actress and murmurs, “That is how I shall look years from now. I’m beginning to be able to play ingenues.” But Christopher Walken steals the picture as a smug, gay critic – think Oscar Wilde – who relishes the cruelty he liberally dishes out, and Bill Irwin is amusing as the wretchedly reluctant object of his affections. Their characterizations are particularly bawdy. Beverly D’Angelo, Ben Gazzara, and the late Donal McCann complete the supporting cast, along with Turturro’s son and cousin. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Illuminata” is an art-house 6, exploring the durability of love with enough dramatic lulls to catch a quick snooze.
