Thoughts on Clara's Heart

 

via Giphy/Courtesy Warner Bros.

"What a strange child you are. Sometime you feel so strange to me, I think, I don' know you at all."
"Of course you know me. You know me better than anyone."
"Not true. Nobody ever really knows anyone. And just when you think you do, people change right before your eyes."

Putting together this month's viewing schedule, I knew that I wanted to see some movies that did not earn their actresses Oscar or Golden Globe nominations. It wasn't so much because I figured they would be easy targets as it was curiosity over why they failed to earn respect from critics and awards-givers. Insight came quickly with Beaches and today's flick, Clara's Heart. Warner Bros. was shameless enough to remind the public that "Whoopi Goldberg stars in her first compassionate performance since The Color Purple."

Whoopi, who received above the title billing, a star entrance with the camera capturing Clara from behind as she watches beautiful Jamaican waves and the final closeup, shared Heart's poster with Neil Patrick Harris. He received "and introducing" credit, the first closeup and a character arc that sounds great on paper, but less so in practice. David, son of wealthy Bill and Leona Hart (Michael Ontkean and Kathleen Quinlan), grows to love Clara like a mother. Clara, formerly a resort maid, gave tough love to Leona when she and Bill were on vacation after losing an infant daughter to SIDS. Clara comes home to Baltimore with the Harts, it turns out that Bill's got a mistress and Leona hooks up with a self-help leader (Spalding Gray). Many critics noted that Clara and David were the movie's only sympathetic characters, a distinct but limiting creative choice.

"You know how much I appreciate this."

"I'm glad to do it, for him."

"Well, it helps me as well."

"I can't concern myself with what makes it easier for you who got all the choices, only him that don't."

"I don't quite see that I've cornered the market on choices. Show him a good time."

"Oh, yes. I'm sure he's gonna have a good time. His father's movin' out the house, the mother's fumigatin' the household and he's off to the city, with a stranger. A wonderful time, Mrs. Hart."

"Clara -- Surely you see me trying and surely you recall that you're the one who told me to change my life."

"Next time I'll be more specific about what is allowed."

"By all means."

"Look here, Mrs. Hart. Your own happiness can never be as important as that child's until he grows to be a man."

"I don't happen to think that the two are mutually exclusive. I think that if I'm happier, he'll be happier."

"No. No."

David undergoes the rights of passage that you expect from movies like Clara's Heart. He gains confidence against bullies (namely Alan, played by Jason Downs, who danced in Hairspray) and with both Black and white girls. He also becomes a better swimmer (earning respect from Bill) and stands up to an extent to both of his parents and Peter. Among the coming of age milestones unique to Heart, David occasionally speaks with a Jamaican accent. It's first done to taunt Clara, then out of affection. Later, he and Clara make up juicy things to tell the therapist that Leona and Peter want him to attend, like having seen his parents wear each other's clothing, including underwear, to role play. Even Leona admits that's funny. Speaking of Bill and Leona, I'm still not entirely sure why neither of them even threatened to fire Clara. In fact, Clara even brings it up while arguing with Bill. It seems like there was a missed chance, having a scene with either of the adult Harts admitting that Clara's been David's best parent. Then again, the filmmakers needed to want to go there.

Heart, directed by Robert Mulligan, was written by Mark Medoff (who played David's therapist) from Joseph Olshan's novel. I'm not sure if the story was autobiographical or what new ideas Medoff added. In short, I don't know who's to blame for the movie's crazy climax. David has been wanting to know more about Clara's late son, Ralphie. He's been egged on by prostitute Dora (Beverly Todd), who knew Clara and Ralphie back in Jamaica. It's awful coincidental that several people in Clara's life apparently emigrated en masse to a metropolitan area the Harts are from. You almost imagine Clara checking her resort's guest rosters, hoping to find people from Baltimore. Clara also mentions a husband, but she may be lying.

Anyway, Clara reveals that Ralphie and Dora were a couple. He responded poorly when she played with his emotions, ultimately raping her. Clara found out, disowned Ralphie and was then raped herself by him before he committed suicide by plunging off a cliff. This is serious stuff, but I can't take it seriously. The mystery was drawn out too long and was kept too vague. And who ever heard of a psycho named Ralphie? There's one bit of foreshadowing that kinda works while also being more than a little creepy. Clara, who accepted a foot rub from David, is triggered when he non-sexually put his hand on her (clothed) inner thigh. Clara is unmistakably a maternal figure for David, but for a bit, you wonder just what the hell's going on.

Heart was lucky enough to have strong actors in Whoopi and Neil. It makes you wish they'd have done a movie that placed greater importance on their genuinely strong chemistry, not blatant but failed awards bait.

"David. David? ... Look upon me. Know this: you can depend on me."

"Always?"

"Always is much longer than you're going to need me."

Not Recommended.

Thoughts:
-- *David said he would have defended Clara by kicking Dora's pimp in the balls* "And this is the child with the hairdo (a newly-received pompadour) to do it."
-- Box Office: This grossed nearly $5.2 million on an unknown budget and didn't appear to be widely released.

-- Awards Watch: While Whoopi was nominated for an NAACP Image award, Neil was nominated for both the Golden Globe and Youth in Film awards. The movie also received a Youth in Film nomination.

-- Critic's Corner, the movie: "Delightful (and) unpretentious," Sheila Benson wrote. "It never cloys and it never condescends." "Powerful, unabashedly sentimental ... a (visual) beauty to behold," Variety wrote.

-- Critic's Corner, Whoopi: Clara was her best screen work to date, according to Benson. "She appears at ease in every way, and for the first time seems genuinely to become the character she is playing," Janet Maslin wrote. Rita Kempley, observing that Whoopi was no longer playing Eddie Murphy-style roles, added that Heart, plus the TV show Gimme a Break!, were "just '80s variations of Miss Scarlet and Mammy." I previously quoted Roger Ebert's review of Heart back when I did Thoughts On Jumping Jack Flash. He was fascinated by how badly Hollywood had failed her since The Color Purple. "She has been denied true relationships, except with weirdos, strange neighbors, computer buddies and nerdy little boys. ... She is always the being from another planet. How come? ... We would believe it if a guy fell in love with her. Give her a normal human role. See what happens."

-- Critic's Corner, Neil: "A fine young actor who really holds in own in scenes with Miss Goldberg," Maslin wrote. Benson: "A real discovery." Ebert felt Neil was miscast, "probably through no fault of his own ... unable to project much more than an overwhelming sense of neediness." 

-- Hey, It's the Late '80s!: Leona and Bill's reading material includes the November 1987 issue of Vanity Fair, promoting "Farrah's Class Act," and an issue of The New Yorker from god only knows when.

-- "Yeah, so, I'll see you the next time I'm in Baltimore, okay?" "Whether you see me the next time or whether you never see me again, you must know, David, they no matter where I am, for as long as I live, that I will carry you right here in my heart always."

-- That last closeup, by the way, is executed so strangely. Clara watches David leave the hospital where she's working (as a pediatric nurse, apparently). She backs away from the window and even turns to go back to work, and then Mulligan cut to black so the credits could roll. It feels like someone let the footage run too long. A freeze frame is a cliche, yes, but it would at least served Whoopi better than the possible outtake.

-- Next: Bagdad Cafe. On deck: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.