Sue Says:
2 Stars
I watched this Friday night. Helen Mirren stars as Ayn and Peter Fonda plays the role of her husband Frank. Eric Stoltz is cast as her protégé and married lover Nathaniel Branden and Julie Delpy plays his wife Barbara. The film covers the time period during the affair while she was writing Atlas Shrugged and a few years immediately after. It is based on a novel written by Barbara Branden, so not quite unbiased.
In the interest of full disclosure I have to say that Atlas Shrugged is one of my least favorite books, and I have wondered on occasion if maybe I just didn’t “get it”. If there is any accuracy at all in this movie I think I can safely say, I did get it.
Ms. Rand taught of self preservation above all else. That man was only responsible for his own happiness and that human beings need feel no obligation to help others, especially if they were put at risk. In Atlas Shrugged a giant gold dollar sign becomes the symbol of what the novel’s “heroes” stand for. For myself this is unthinkable, and admittedly at times I can be overly concerned with the welfare of others, but it is not hard to see why such an idea would appeal to some people.
Because the movie begins half way through her life we do not learn anything about what events may have helped to form these ideals, in fact I would venture that this movie would not appeal to those without some background of Ms. Rand or her writing. I’m also not sure it would appeal to her admirers either, though I bet they could see their way to the logic of it all.
In conclusion, it was interesting, but not necessarily in a good way. I wasn’t really convinced by any of the actors, except the fabulous Helen Mirren, who I enjoy almost as much as some people do George Clooney. All in all, if you happen upon it, why not? But I wouldn’t go out of my way to get my hands on this one.
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