If you’re going to “The Stone Angel” because Ellen “Juno” Page is splashed all over the poster, you might be interested to know “Stone” was made before “Juno” and that her role is teeny. But if you’re going because of Ellen Burstyn, you’re in luck.
Burstyn plays Hagar Shipley, an elderly woman who looks back on her life with regret. “Stone Angel” shifts between the past and present to tell the story of a resourceful woman who, because she came of age 80 years ago, had to watch as a succession of men made the big decisions in her life for her. It’s a big part in an ambitious film, but Burstyn makes it all about tiny, truthful moments like a hospital scene in which she confesses to her son she is frightened to die without figuring things out first.
As the son, Dylan Baker is also dynamite (so is Christine Horne as the young Hagar), but the unwieldy script often works against the actors. The endless series of dramatic revelations in “Stone Angel” makes it feel like a miniseries, boiled down to movie length, and director Kari Skogland is undone by a tricky structure that is supposed to suggest Hagar’s mind drifting back and forth in time. Instead, it suggests a messy telephone cord that yo-yos in every direction but the one you want.
Perhaps you’ve noticed I’ve failed to mention whom Page plays? That’s because the character is almost entirely incidental to the plot: Hagar’s grandson’s girlfriend, who pops up for a couple of scenes then vanishes so we can get back to the wonders of Burstyn.
“Stone Angel”
R for language, partial nudity and pot smoking. 1 hour, 56 minutes. Directed by Kari Skogland. Written by Skogland and Margaret Laurence from Laurence’s novel. Starring Ellen Burstyn, Dylan Baker, Christine Horne, Ellen Page. Opens today at the Chez Artiste.
