method acting at its finest

Rating: Null/10 (30 November 1998)

I'm not the first to say this, but it bears repeating -- Edward Norton is the new DeNiro. Yes, the film is disjointed and the character transformations too pat, the water motif clunky and the Vinyard family an unbelievable amalgam of philosophical differences, but when you get to witness an actor completely lose himself into this juicy a role, who cares? The dinner table scene between Norton and Elliott Gould was one of the finest juxtapositions of acting styles that I can recall. Norton's barely controlled and frighteningly intelligent rage versus Gould's old shoe liberal shocked WAY out of his comfort zone is bravura stuff, baby!