by Valerie Rojas
Staff Writer
Set in the early ’90s, amid the heat of the well-publicized Clinton sex-scandal, “The Human Stain,” starring Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman, opened Oct. 31.
Based on the novel by author Philip Roth, “The Human Stain” is the story about what happens when suddenly the secrets that someone has struggled to keep hidden for so long, become exposed.
After a comment about a group of African-American students is misinterpreted as a racial slur, the life of well-respected Coleman Silk, a biracial classics professor, played by Hopkins, becomes front-page news. The scandal spreads in the small New England town and Silk’s life, past and present, is suddenly under investigation.
Gary Sinise plays Nathan Zuckerman, a writer researching the biography of Silk. Zuckerman begins to dive deeper and deeper into the life of his colleague, unearthing secrets that even Silk’s wife of 50 years is unaware of.
Nicole Kidman plays Faunia Farely, a troubled janitor with an abusive husband.
When an affair between Silk and Farely is exposed, Silk’s life falls down around him in a series of devastating events.
The lead actors seem miscast for their roles in this movie. For example: Hopkins as an African-American Jew and Kidman as a lowly janitor come now, who are we kidding?
However, the cast manages to bring each character to life as best as they can, in this troubled tale that is a little hard to swallow as it is.
With an R rating, this romantic thriller includes nudity, a few bloody fist-fights and a dance scene between Hopkins and Zuckerman that rivals that of Rogers and Astaire.
All-in-all, “The Human Stain” is definitely worth the price of admission.
