# Winslow Boy, The (1999)

### reviewed by
Akiva Gottlieb

    The Winslow Boy **1/2

rated G Sony Pictures Classics starring Nigel Hawthorne, Jeremy Northam, Rebecca Pidgeon, Gemma Jones, Guy Edwards, Matthew Pidgeon, Colin Stinton based on the play by Terence Rattigan written and directed by David Mamet

Playwright/filmmaker David Mamet is truly a master of the literary arts. To call him accomplished would be an understatement, for Mamet, after scripting 23 movies(as well as numerous other plays), is beyond accomplishment. The man has brought us projects varying from "Glengarry Glen Ross" to "The Edge". Mamet also crafted last year's brilliant mystery "The Spanish Prisoner". But, as we all know, sometimes the masters have their disasters.

David Mamet's latest, "The Winslow Boy", is no disaster, but it is far from perfect. The G-rated period piece is based on Terence Rattigan's play about a court case involving a boy who is accused of stealing a five-shilling postal order. I am unfamiliar with the source material, but Mamet seems to have some trouble structuring the story into an engrossing film.

Ronnie Winslow(Guy Edwards), the film's title character, is a 14-year-old boy who arrives home from his school bearing an expulsion notice which tells of his theft. He lives in a large home in London with his father, Arthur(Nigel Hawthorne), his mother, Grace(Gemma Jones), his brother, Dickie(Matthew Pidgeon) and his sister(Rebecca Pidgeon, Mamet's wife) who is about to be married.

Ronnie is afraid to show the notice to his father, but eventually he is forced to. Arthur's reaction, however, is entirely unexpected. He asks Ronnie to swear to him that he did not commit this crime, and when Ronnie does, Arthur vows that he will "let right be done." He hires the distinguished Sir Robert Morton(Jeremy Northam) as an attorney, and they take their case as far as they can.

The case of "The Winslow Boy" is criticized by reporters from the start. They say that the Winslows are going overboard, fighting the legal system so viciously, but Arthur just proclaims that right must be done.

I have to admit that I love the message of the film; that in order to find justice, you must push the system. But it is here that the film stumbles messily. We never get inside the courtroom, and we view the case as outsiders. Instead of focusing on the trial itself, Mamet focuses on the emotions of the characters, as they ponder whether or not to drop the case altogether. While the characters are developed rather nicely, they are simply not as interesting as the trial itself. Therefore, "The Winslow Boy" is a meandering character drama instead of an exciting courtroom thriller.

There is still much to admire about "The Winslow Boy". The acting is top-notch, with Hawthorne, Northam, and R. Pidgeon standing out. David Mamet accomplishes an interesting feat by making a G-rated feature that has as much pizazz as many R-rated films. Mamet's previous film, "The Spanish Prisoner", was a PG-rated thriller that offered much more than any R-rated thriller of last year. David Mamet may very well be the antidote to all the unnecessary on-screen violence. "The Winslow Boy" is an intriguing project, but one that only a master can do wrong.

a review by Akiva Gottlieb, The Teenage Movie Critic akiva@excite.com http://www.angelfire.com/mo/film watch me on TBS' "Dinner And A Movie" May 21, 8:05pm EST

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