THE SECRET LIVES OF DENTISTS ----------------------------
"Teeth outlast everything. Death is nothing to teeth. Life is what destroys teeth."
David (Campbell Scott, "Roger Dodger") and Dana (Hope Davis, "About Schmidt") Hurst share a
dental practice, a solid marriage, three young girls and a home in suburban Westchester. On
the eve of Dana's debut in an amateur Verdi production, David inadvertently spies her
backstage in the arms of another man. As Dana's infidelity manifests itself in her actions
and is reflected in their children's behavior, Dave withdraws into a fantasy land in "The
Secret Lives of Dentists."
Producer/actor Campbell Scott's lengthy struggle to bring author Jane Smiley's "The Age of
Grief" to the screen has paid off with career highs for everyone involved. Exploring some of
the same themes as "American Beauty," this film makes that Oscar winner seem pretty
superficial in retrospect. "The Secret Lives of Dentists" is an American masterpiece.
In their bustling practice, Dave and his assistant Laura (Robin Tunney, "The In-Laws") attend
to combative trumpeter Slater (Denis Leary, "Ice Age"), a new patient who snidely informs
Dave that 'No dentist ever likes another's work,' before having a filling replaced. Dave and
Dana have their daily check on who will attend to dinner that evening.
Caught up in the minutia of everyday life, small strains are evident before Dave's
thunderclap of discovery. Youngest daughter Leah (Cassidy Hinkle) wants only Daddy, slapping
out against her mother's outstretched arms. As Dave attends to the children at the dinner
table, the artistically intellectual Dana attempts to share her joy in Verdi, singing sweetly
in the kitchen. She's ignored and we see the hurt in her eyes, her spirit trampled. After
Dave learns that Dana might be having an affair, he begins to notice how she overdresses for
errands that run on too long, how he picks up dinner more and more often as she comes home
late, how she suggests he leave early with the girls for their country home where she'll join
them later after catching up with paperwork. She pokes and prods him to speak, but he
refuses, afraid that openness will introduce changes he's not willing to accept. He shows
his love physically, while his anger builds, spurred on by an imaginary Slater, the match to
the fuel of his rage. When a mean bout of the flu lays waste to the family one by one and
the last to get sick, middle child Stephanie (Lydia Jordan), reaches a fever of 105.2, the
crisis seems to pull the family together, but Dana rebels, forcing David to confront her
adultery.
Scott quietly continues to build an exceptional career as an actor and producer and hopefully
his role as David Hurst will finally garner him wide recognition. His emotionally closed
dentist articulates his distress in the tightness of his wind, his weak but uncharacteristic
questioning, his immersion in child care, his building resentment of house husbandry. The
actor seems to age in front of our eyes as he's 'arrived at the age of grief.' Hope Davis is
his match as the ethereal intelligent beauty searching for the missing piece of her life.
The actress communicates her character's division, how she tries jolt Dave into satisfying
her needs. We see how the demands of family life weigh on her as she readjusts her posture
before entering the country home. The characters' relationship is symbolized by a flashback
of the two, Dave confidently racing down a hill with Dana perched on his bike's handlebars -
he likes to keep her a little off balance by having control and the actors' faces convey this
beautifully - it's the only time we really see Dave smile while she looks fearful but
thrilled. (These flashbacks are beautifully countered in the present when Dana admits to
Dave 'You scare me a little. You don't smile and you're tall.')
Leary's acidic persona is used beautifully as the devil sitting on Dave's shoulder. Director
Rudolph ("Trixie," "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle") slowly darkens Slater's appearance
so that by the time Slater arrives in Dave's high temp house to trumpet "Fever" accompanied
by a slinky, vamping version of Laura, he's an inky-eyed seducer. Tunney, an undervalued
young actress, strongly supports Campbell's story arc. She shows the tiniest hint of
unrequited attraction to her boss and is thrown into turmoil when he ardently thanks her for
helping with a family situation - she emphasizes Dave's propensity for not seeing what is in
front of him.
Craig Lucas's ("Longtime Companion") adaption and Rudolph's direction perfectly meld reality
with Dave's ruminations of memory and fantasy. As Dave strides backstage tribal drums begin
and everything slows down, becomes dreamlike. Figures block Dave's view of Dana, rapturous
in the arms of another man, splintering his vision, delivering pain with quick jabs.
Cinematographer Florian Ballhaus ("Investigating Sex") desaturates a reimagining of Dave's
that drips with venom - he and the kids accompany her on her errand and she has them drop her
off at a stranger's house for 'about twenty minutes,' while true memories of their romance
are enveloped in the golden hues of autumn. Ballhaus's camera snakes around the action, in
one scene leaving Dave's office to capture both he and his wife lost in thought on either
side of their offices' dividing wall - what brings them together also separates them.
Rudolph masterfully builds on the small moments that define life, such as in a simple scene
where Dave massages out his wife's foot cramp, while using details, like an old movie playing
on a bedroom set, to comment upon the action. Production designer Ted Glass kept a real home
almost intact and preserves the lived in imperfections of a family home.
The film's final scene ('Are you staying?') is tentative and emotional and ambiguous and
hopeful, a perfect wrap up. Rarely does a film cause those visceral adrenaline rushes of
recognizing greatness, but "The Secret Lives of Dentists" brings waves of them. It is the
best American film of the year to date and one that will be hard to beat.
A+
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