Fascism in the 'hood

>> Focus is well-meaning but strangely unmoving

by MATTHEW HAYS

There were those films at the Toronto International Film Festival which suddenly took on new and unintentional meaning after the terrorists flew those jets into the side of those buildings on Sept. 11. Focus, a film based on an Arthur Miller '45 novel, was one of them.

Set in WWII suburbia, directed by first-time filmmaker Neal Slavin, Focus has William H. Macy playing a sheepish clerk in a firm. Early in the film, we witness Macy interview Laura Dern for a job. Mysteriously, he tells her that she's simply not correct for the office. She takes offence, apparently aware of something we're not: that there's an obvious reason why he refuses to hire her.

As the film rolls along, it becomes a bit clearer as to why Dern, and ultimately Macy, are being treated like suspicious underground criminals by their coworkers and neighbours. At a time of heightened anti-Semitism, people are convinced these two, who embark on a romance, are Jewish.

The film offers up the talents of Dern and Macy and, let's face it, at this point these two are such effective screen performers they can practically do no wrong. The film is also bolstered by the presence of Meat Loaf Aday, who plays a menacing neighbour involved with the burgeoning fascist movement. And the film feels especially topical because it illustrates the terrible stress the couple faces, simply by being mistaken for being part of a certain minority. (Both Jews and Arabs are facing increasing hostility after 9/11.)

But there's a key problem in the casting here, something that makes little or no sense at all. Macy and Dern look about as goyish as you can get. Didn't it occur to Slavin that, despite the actors' undeniable skills, it would seem somewhat absurd to have them in these rolls, given that they would never, ever be mistaken for Jewish?

This bit of illogic makes Focus hard to swallow from the get-go. But even when we try to accept that someone might think of these two as Semitic-looking, there's something rather empty about Slavin's launch into features. Previously a photographer and TV commercial director, Slavin's first film makes sense in that context. There's some nice art direction here, and pleasing compositions. But due to its absurd casting and lack of depth, Focus remains a bit fuzzy. :

Focus opens Friday, Nov. 16