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Rating: 3 out of 5
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in 2021, over 391,000 children are living in the U.S. foster care system, and the number has been rising. Over 113,000 of these children are eligible for adoption, and they will, on average, wait almost three years for an adoptive family. I could never imagine what it is like to live in foster care or even an orphanage. All kids should have a family that will love and care for them.
The Cider House Rules was directed by Lasse Hallström from a screenplay by John Irving, based on Irving’s 1985 novel of the same name. The story revolves around the life of Homer Wells (Maguire). Homer grew up in St. Cloud’s, a sweet orphanage, under the watchful and kind eye of Dr. Wilbur Larch (Sir Caine). Homer was returned twice during his young life by foster parents. The first one was odd as they felt Homer was too quiet as a baby. Dr. Larch stated that orphanage babies quickly learn that crying is pointless. The second family returned him because they beat him. Dr. Larch takes a liking to Homer, who teaches him his full medical knowledge. Homer wanted to explore the world outside the orphanage as he grew up. Homer’s life changes when Wally (Rudd) and his pregnant girlfriend Candy (Theron) visit the orphanage for an abortion. Homer decides to leave with them and work at Wally’s family apple farm. Wally goes off to war and leaves Homer and Candy alone. As Homer adapts to life in the cider house, he soon learns more about life and love than he could ever expect.
I am going to be honest with you about the film. I wonder why this film was nominated for Best Picture. I have seen some pretty bad Best Picture winners, but this film shouldn’t have come close to that category. I only watched it because it won Best Supporting Actor and Michael Caine was one of the highlights of this film. It’s not to take away from some of the performances in this film. It was just a bore to watch; seeing kids not have a family is heartbreaking.
I found the story somewhat interesting. It was the adventures of Homer and how he grew up in an orphanage. The kids in the orphanage were all cool and interesting. I found them far more interesting than the main character. Homer’s beginning is an eye-opener, but the character could be more exciting to follow after that. I would’ve followed the other kids like Buster and Fuzzy. Fuzzy’s mother was an alcoholic, and that is how he ended up in that contraption.
When he meets Candy and Wally, the story picks up a bit because Homer wants to explore the world. He ends up picking apples at Wally’s parent’s place or the cider house. Here he meets the help or other workers who are black and come during the season. The cider house has different rules that they must follow, but no one follows them. This is where the DRAMA happens. Homer begins a love affair with Candy. Homeboy goes from a boy to a straight-up MAN. That is one set of drama because Wally trusts Candy and Homer. When he goes off to war, Homer starts tapping that ass.
The cider house crew also has some drama in it. Arthur is the leader of the whole picking apple crew. The apple-picking crew thinks Homer is strange because he is not black. Arthur is strong-willed and wants things a certain way. When one of his crew people throws their cigarette in the cider. The two have a knife fight, where Arthur wins easily. This isn’t even the worse of Arthur. His daughter is pregnant, and we find out that he is the father of that baby. That is straight-up NASTY.
One of the main things is Homer taking over for Dr. Larch through all this. In a series of letters to each other, Dr. Larch wants Homer to be the new director, but Homer doesn’t because he doesn’t have any formal education. It is cute to see each of them react to the letters that are written and the stubborn nature of the two. Dr. Larch even goes as far as to use reverse psychology on the orphanage’s board of directors to get them to approve Homer as the new director.
For the acting, I need to start with Michael Caine as Dr. Wilbur Larch. Caine was the best part of the whole film. He was charming, funny, caring, and loved the kids. One of the saddest parts about him was that he was addicted to ether. Dude would lie next to his window and get high as a kite. Even with this fault, he still cared for the kids and performed abortions for women that needed them. Dude had a way of convincing people.
Tobey Maguire as Homer Wells was good. It’s not some of his best work. He had bright eyes and was young. Even though he was the lead actor, I wasn’t overly impressed with him. It was a really calm and standard performance.
Charlize Theron as Candy Kendall was also okay. You could tell that she was a lot stronger than Maguire. I did enjoy her, and Theron is always one of the most beautiful people on the planet. She did have her moment when she found out about Arthur.
The Cider House Rules is one of those films you can watch and quickly forget. The story is okay but not something that deserved to be nominated for the Best Pictures award. Michael Caine is one of the film’s best parts, and his performance was a pleasure to watch. Watch this film when you are bored.
In the words of Dr. Larch, “Goodnight, you princes of Maine, you kings of New England.”
