Feast of Love

Director Robert Benton successfully overcomes a series of clichés in this well-acted multiple-storyline drama—adapted from Charles Baxter's novel The Feast of Love—most notable for its frank, non-sensationalistic depiction of adult sexuality. The film focuses on Bradley Thomas (Greg Kinnear), an unlucky-in-love coffee shop owner, and Harry Stevenson (Morgan Freeman), a college professor still grieving for a recently deceased son—close friends who find solace in each other's company. Bradley, a professed optimist with a hidden streak of self-destructiveness, is abandoned by both his first wife (Selma Blair) after she becomes a lesbian, and his second wife (Radha Mitchell) when she proves incapable of breaking off her longstanding affair with a married man. A subplot involving one of Bradley's employees (Toby Hemingway)—the long-abused son of a dangerous drunkard (Fred Ward)—is less effective (coming across almost dreamlike, due to screenwriter Allison Burnett's insistence of adding elements of mysticism). Most of the cast members are seen naked before, during, and/or after making love, but director Benton's approach is both tasteful and non-exploitative, but while it would be nice to think that Feast of Love presages a new Hollywood approach to depicting love and sex, this mature and engaging film is likely to remain an exception. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include a 12-minute“The Players” cast interview featurette (with costars Morgan Freeman, Greg Kinnear, Radha Mitchell, and Selma Blair), and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for an interesting film.] (E. Hulse)