A Man for All Seasons (1988)

When Ted Turner started his TNT cable network in 1988, his first project was a remake of Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons. Charlton Heston, having played Sir Thomas More in a West End performance of the play, eagerly agreed to direct and star, bringing a few name actors with him. The result is this curious film, more faithful to Bolt's play than Fred Zinnemann's adaptation but flat and stagy. Given my long-winded review of the earlier film, I'll restrict myself to the differences in adaptation here.

Sir Thomas More (Charlton Heston) becomes Chancellor of England upon the death of Cardinal Wolsey (John Gielgud). But his strong Catholic principles put him in conflict with Henry VIII's (Martin Chamberlain) desire to divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn, sitting in motion the English Reformation. Even after resignation More is hounded by Henry's henchmen, Thomas Cromwell (Benjamin Withrow) and Richard Rich (Jonathon Hackett), ultimately imprisoned for his silence. But even when More's wife (Vanessa Redgrave) and daughter (Adrienne Thomas) beg him to submit, Sir Thomas refuses to back down.

The biggest addition to Heston's Man is the Common Man, a character excised completely from the 1966 film. Intended as a Brechtian alienation device onstage, he works just fine as a sardonic narrator in this film. Assaying various small parts, he embodies Bolt's thematic preoccupation with men who shun culpability for their actions, malleable to the whims of his betters: "Better a live rat than a dead lion." Roy Kinnear's lively performance sells the character, and overall he's a positive addition.

Others are less successful. The scenes with Spanish Ambassador Chapuys (Nicolas Amer) feel superfluous. There's more emphasis on More's religious piety but not enough to seriously alter the story's fabric. Other scenes (naturally) run much longer than before, leading to a stilted pace where the original was brisk and engaging. Frankly, few of these additions benefit the movie, aside from some clever bits of prose. What works on stage or the page merely results in a long (150 minutes), plodding film.

Heston's direction is competent, borrowing visual cues of water and fire from Zinnemann's film. This being a TV production, though, the film succeeds or fails with the actors. Unfortunately the cast is wildly variable, ranging from quite good to wretched. Perhaps it's the cast, made up largely of stage actors? Perhaps it's Heston, with his limited directing experience? Either way it's frustrating.

Heston plays in his usual manner, with imposing physicality and hammy line delivery. He delivers More's big speeches (especially the "Give the Devil benefit of law" soliloquy) with perfect gusto and certainly lends dramatic weight to the climax. It's the quiet moments where Heston falters: he's just as mannered chatting with Margaret or poking fun at Roper as he is telling off Cromwell. I usually like Chuck but he comes off badly as More. Where Paul Scofield is subtle, Heston is overbearing.

Roy Kinnear (The Three Musketeers) gives a robust, witty performance, providing much-needed humor. Richard Johnson (Khartoum) shows an unusual liveliness as the Duke of Norfolk, and John Hudson easily bests Corin Redgrave's silly take on Roper. Best of all is Benjamin Whitrow. Whitrow plays Cromwell more subtlely than Leo McKern, a slippery snake in the grass rather than a blustering bully. This makes several scenes more powerful, especially his seduction of Rich and his cold-hearted interrogations of More.

Unfortunately, each good performance is balanced with a poor one. Vanessa Redgrave badly overplays Alice, complete with regrettable Yorkshire accent. John Gielgud sleepwalks through his scene, bereft of his usual gravitas. Martin Chamberlain's Henry and Adrienne Thomas's Margaret are similarly flat. The worst offender is Jonathon Hackett, playing Rich like an overeager high school student. His Rich is a pathetic dope rather than John Hurt's lost lamb, especially his pleading with More for employment. Nor is his conversion to the Dark Side convincing.

This A Man for All Seasons is a very mixed bag. Fans of the play might appreciate Heston's more thorough adaptation, but average viewers should stick with the original.