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ARTICLES - "'Myth' a vivid portrait of dysfunction "

'Myth' a vivid portrait of dysfunction by Jeff Strickler
Minneapolis Star Tribune , October 10, 1997

"The Myth of Fingerprints" demonstrates that you can, indeed, go home again. But it raises the question: Are you sure you want to?

Four siblings in their 20s to early 30s return to their rural childhood homestead for Thanksgiving. No sooner are they in the front door than they revert to their old behavioral patterns, picking the scabs off supposedly long-forgotten emotional sores.

The film is the work of first-time writer-director Bart Freundlich. Despite his inexperience, he attracted a high-profile cast for his modestly budgeted film, among them Roy Scheider, Blythe Danner, Noah Wyle, Julianne Moore and James LeGros.

Freundlich seems to have recruited these people by giving them interesting - albeit flawed - characters to play, then allowing each of them their own scenes to step forward and flesh out their screen personas.

Scheider (nominated for Oscars for "The French Connection" and "All That Jazz") is the family patriarch. Dour, stubborn and uncommunicative, it's clear that most of the family's dysfunction can be traced back to him. But he's had many facilitators, primarily his wife (Danner, "The Prince of Tides"), who is committed to being the family healer, even if it means ignoring her own bruised feelings.

Among the returning offspring is Warren (Wyle of TV's "ER"). Warren is carrying two emotional suitcases full of unresolved conflicts, one set dealing with his father and the other with a girlfriend whom he still loves though she dumped him rudely and without warning.

The oldest sibling is Mia (Moore, "Jurassic Park: The Lost World"). She's trapped in a state of anger, which rises and falls but never entirely dissipates - at least until she encounters an old high school friend (LeGros, "Living in Oblivion") whose own emotional cracks have developed into canyons.

The oldest son is Jake (Michael Vartan, "The Pallbearer"). He has returned looking for reassurance that he is not doomed to repeat his parents' mistakes. "Do you think you have to have a healthy family life to have a successful relationship?" he asks Mia.

Rounding out the family is the baby, Leigh (Laurel Holloman, "The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love"). Too young to have witnessed the family's disintegration, she has carved out her own niche of happiness based largely on not realizing how screwed up the family dynamics have gotten.

Joining the family are the significant others of Mia (Brian Kerwin, "Jack") and Hal (Hope Davis, "The Daytrippers"). As outsiders, they provide the ballast that keeps the family from capsizing. They see the danger in destructive behavior patterns to which the family has grown numb.

Not much happens in terms of a story. The events that take place are largely anecdotal, and the changes that occur are subtle. Freundlich is not proposing that one weekend of communal healing can wipe out a lifetime of irritations, jealousies and angers. But he does suggest that if the family is willing to acknowledge that problems exist, that alone is a huge step in the right direction.

The title is a stretch; it's supposed to represent how a person's identity within a family is not a constant the way a fingerprint is. But the rest of the movie is much more accessible. Freundlich has done a nice job weaving together the various plot lines. He manages to jump from one family member's story to the next without the narration seeming disjointed. He accomplishes this by beginning and ending each segment back at the family. The ties that hold them together are the same ones that hold the movie together.

3 Out of a possible five stars

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