A tale of unrequited love and unfulfilled aspirations, Anton
Chekhov’s bitterly tragic comedy “The Seagull” gets an enjoyable — if
mostly unremarkable — adaptation, boosted by a bevy of strong performances from
its spectacular cast.
Set in late 19th century Russia, most of the story’s action
is confined to the lavish, lakeside country estate of Sorin
(Brian Dennehy), where a number of family guests have
arrived for the summer. There’s timid schoolteacher Mikhail (Michael Zegen), who’s in love with acerbic, depressed Masha
(Elisabeth Moss), who drinks heavily while pining for handsome aspiring
playwright Konstantin (Billy Howle), who’s enamored
by naรฏve would-be actress Nina (Saoirse Ronan), who’s infatuated with the
famous writer Boris Trigorin (Corey Stoll), who’s the
lover of Konstantin’s mother Irina (Annette Bening),
an aging, narcissistic actress who seems to only be in love with herself.
Screenwriter Stephen Karam and
director Michael Mayer aren’t terribly interested in subverting or looking for
a new angle on Chekhov’s play, which results in the sort of straightforward
adaptation that might feel right at home on “Masterpiece Theatre.” And it’s all
fine.
A Tony Award-winning theater director (for the musical
“Spring Awakening” in 2007), Mayer successfully avoids making the unrepentantly
theatrical material feel too stagy or stuffy, and he keeps things moving at a
brisk pace. Karam also condenses the plot
significantly, leaving little breathing room for the story’s drawing-room
conversations, as the characters struggle to express their yearnings for love
and art, while delivering unintended (and occasionally intended) cruelties to
one another.
The film’s chief selling point is an ensemble’s worth of
masterful performances — particularly from Bening and
Stoll — that keep things lively and engaging. But in the end, there’s not much
that distinguishes this from a particularly well-mounted staged reading.
This article appears in Jun 20-26, 2018.
