Johnny Depp in "The Man Who Cried."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a: Stars: Christina Ricci and Johnny Depp Director: Sally Potter Rated: R, with sexuality Length: 97 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(July 27, 2001) -- British filmmaker Sally Potter, who first gained attention with her unorthodox take on Virginia Woolf's Orlando, takes a far more conventional -- and much less compelling -- approach in The Man Who Cried.

With script and direction by Potter, The Man Who Cried details the odyssey of a young Jewish orphan (Christina Ricci) from the Russian village of her childhood, to a damp England of the early '30s, through the society whirl of the Paris Opera, and on to a trans-Atlantic journey to find her father in America.

Suzie experiences anti-Semitism, the Nazi occupation, the betrayal of a friend (Cate Blanchett) and the slimy advances of an arrogant opera star (a hammy John Turturro).

But of course, there's also the affection of a darkly mysterious gypsy horseman, played with smoldering intensity and barely a word by the dark and mysterious Johnny Depp.

Through it all, Ricci's Suzie never seems to lose her little-girl-lost quality; this intriguing actress seems miscast and out of her depth.

The Man Who Cried plays out like a sudsy soap opera about Europe between the wars, performed by actors struggling with a wide variety of accents. The film seems more like a glossy Douglas Sirk Hollywood saga of the '50s than the innovative film a viewer might expect from the offbeat Potter.

There's hardly a moment that feels authentic. Maybe that's why the man is crying.