Reviewer's Grade: C
The transformation from novel to film seldom works to everyone's satisfaction. What has become of Charles Baxter's really good book "The Feast of Love" in its morphing into director Robert Benton's innocuous "Feast of Love," probably won't please anyone much.
The film stars Morgan Freeman, who also narrates, and Greg Kinnear, whose sad-sack performance here left me longing for the absurdity of Richard Hoover's "Refuse to Lose" plan in "Little Miss Sunshine."
In love, of course, everyone's eventually a loser, often even when he or she wins, and a winner, even when losing. That's the sadly beautiful point Baxter's novel makes about the complexity of human longing for connection. Benton's film reduces the chaotic abundance of the feast to a 100-calorie "snak pak" with its intended nutritional value forced down our throats with every bite. I didn't mind seeing this film, but it left me hungry for something more filling. R
"?Kathryn Jenson White
View trailer
