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The Event | 12119__theevent_l
TRAGIC 'EVENT' Dukakis manages to avoid false notes as a mom wrapped up in the assisted suicide of her son (McKellar)

Credits

Limited Release: Oct 03, 2003; Rated: R; Length: 112 Minutes; Genres: Drama, Mystery; With: Parker Posey
C+
By Scott Brown
Scott Brown
Scott Brown
Scott Brown is a senior writer for EW and a frequent contributor to National Public Radio -- he has the tote bag to prove it

The Event is raging against something, but it's not quite sure what. Aggressively drab and granular, the movie feels like a late-'80s AIDS passion play given an ill-fitting post-Sept. 11 makeover.

New York ADA Nick Devivo (Parker Posey) is investigating the demise of Matt (Don McKellar), an AIDS-stricken bohemian who died suspiciously at his own goodbye party. Nick has a fuzzily developed beef with assisted suicide, and she hounds the coconspirators, including Matt's mother (Olympia Dukakis) and sister (Sarah Polley), whose genuine performances are the only reason to see this movie.

A reason not to: The script, which spews clichés (''There was so much love in that room'') and quasi-ideological red herrings. Pointed, pointless shots of ''Bush cheated'' signs announce a political consciousness that's bumping around in the dark. ''Love is above the law'' is the trite-and-true moral, and its thudding arrival is the very definition of a nonevent.


Posted Oct 08, 2003
 

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