Evening

Based on the bestselling novel by Susan Minot, this handsome-looking weepie sports an all-star cast. As elderly Ann Lord (Vanessa Redgrave) lies dying, attended by adult daughters Constance (Natasha Richardson) and Nina (Toni Collette), she calls out the name “Harris.” While the daughters (who struggle with their own issues here in obtrusive subplots) wonder about the mystery man's identity and relationship to their mother, Ann's fading mind drifts back 50 years to a summer weekend that changed her life forever. Claire Danes plays Ann as a young woman in flashbacks that take up much of the movie. Patrick Wilson, Hugh Dancy, Mamie Gummer, Eileen Atkins, Meryl Streep, and Glenn Close costar, and most of them take advantage of director Lajos Koltai, whose loose grip on the material results not only in overripe performances but also a crippling diffusion of emphasis. Not a necessary purchase. (E. Hulse)