The Cider House Rules (1999)

 

For The Cider House Rules (1999) Lasse Hallström worked from a screenplay by novelist John Irving of his own sprawling work, which depicts all manner of human trials, including agonizing over unwanted pregnancies.

At different points in the film, two women -- the spirited Candy (Charlize Theron), the daughter of a Maine lobsterman, and Rose, the daughter of the crew chief of migrant apple pickers (Erykah Badu) -- face unwanted pregnancies. Candy's is presumably through sex with her WWII fighter pilot boyfriend Wally (Paul Rudd) and Rose's through sex with her father Mr. Rose (Delroy Lindo).

Candy's pregnancy is terminated, illegally, at the clinic by the wilfully compassionate Dr. Larch (Michael Caine) and his relucant assistant and "adopted son" Homer (Tobey Maguire), a young man barely out of his teens. Homer, who has only known life in the orphanage and the clinic, objects to abortions but is committed to "being of some use in the world."

Homer soon leaves the orphanage with Candy and Wally and joins a crew of migrant apple pickers in Wally's family orchards, where he meets the spitfire Rose and her congenial but controlling father, Mr. Rose (Delroy Lindo). When Homer notices Rose growing listless, depressed and frequently ill in the morning, he discovers she's been impregnated by her father. Homer confronts the man, who warns him to mind his business. But the young man, telling them of his medical training, prevents Rose from performing an extraction on herself, quite possibly saving her life.

That Hallström's film is moral without being moralistic is one of its strengths -- it's also beautifully shot with many superb performances. The tone is not preachy or reductive but profoundly human and intimate, recognizing we are not perfect, mistakes and bad decisions are parts of life, and often the rules that are forced upon us -- like those posted in the bunkhouse for the migrant apple pickers -- are written by those who know nothing about us or our worlds, though they would pretend to.