Disgrace

In this adaptation of J.M. Coetzee's Booker Prize–winning novel, directed by Steve Jacobs, John Malkovich plays South African professor David Lurie, a divorced man with a weakness for younger women. In between assignations with call girls, David seduces Melanie (Antoinette Engel), a biracial theater student, who doesn't seem all that interested (or available), but yields anyway, possibly because she doesn't feel she has a choice. Facing university disciplinary measures, David leaves Cape Town to stay with his daughter, Lucy (Jessica Haines), in the Eastern Cape, where he volunteers at an animal clinic run by her friend Bev (Fiona Press). David is concerned that Lucy lives alone and that fellow farmer Petrus (Eriq Ebouaney), an older black man, comes and goes as he pleases. One afternoon while Petrus is away, three black men attack David and Lucy. David suspects that Petrus may have known the assault was coming, but Lucy begs him to stay out of it and deals with the situation in a manner that echoes her country's struggles in the wake of apartheid. As an actor, Malkovich has never had much facility with accents, and Disgrace is no exception, but he gives what is otherwise one of his most effective performances, and Haines is every bit his equal in this powerful film. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include interviews with the cast and crew, including star John Malkovich and director Steve Jacobs (37 min.), a behind-the-scenes featurette (20 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a fine film.] (K. Fennessy)