Far From Heaven (2002)

It's difficult for me to decide whether I like this film or not. I that it deals with the issues of prejudice and racism, however the film was set in the 1950s so the views and opinions on these issues really angered me, making it overall quite difficult to watch without throwing something. Julianne Moore leads the cast as Cathy Whitaker, who finds herself falling in love with her ('coloured') gardener Raymond, and faces discrimination by her community that becomes too much. Meanwhile her husband Frank (Dennis Quaid) struggles with his sexuality and tries to find a 'cure'. This appeared to me as too much for one film, I thought it would be better dealing with just racists or homophobes but not both. However, it works. It keeps the audience fixed on the fast-paced plot line, and gives us an impression now about just how much prejudice dominated the social hierarchy in the 1950s. I didn't find the film's direction particularly remarkable, but it helped in a way to be focussed on the acting rather than the composition of the actors, who were all very talented. I liked the film and would watch it again and recommend it to others, but it is quite heavy-going and frustrating to watch. However, that was life back then so really the film is just being honest.