Cast: Jordana Brewster, Christopher Eccleston, Cameron Diaz, Blythe Danner, Patrick Bergin, Camilla Belle
Director: Adam Brooks
Producers: Julia Chasman, Nick Wechsler
Screenplay: Adam Brooks, based on the novel by Jennifer Egan
Cinematography: Henry Braham
Music: Nick Laird-Clowes
U.S. Distributor: Fine Line Features
Adam Brooks' The Invisible Circus represents a series of near-misses. The fundamental flaw has more to do with the tone than with the storyline or the acting. For whatever reason, Brooks has decided to distance his characters from the audience, and the result is a cold, uninvolving experience. Intellectually, we understand what's going on, but nothing in The Invisible Circus has the ability to move us on an emotional level. Admittedly, this same premise probably could have been used as the basis for a hopelessly soap opera-ish melodrama, but one would hope there's a middle ground somewhere between the sterile and the over-the-top. Unfortunately, Brooks' film doesn't occupy it.
The primary story takes place in 1976, as 18-year old Phoebe O'Connor (Jordana Brewster) is about to embark upon a trip across Europe to follow in the footsteps of her dead, older sister. Six years earlier, free spirit Faith (Cameron Diaz) and her British beau, Wolf (Christopher Eccleston), departed San Francisco on an odyssey that took them from Amsterdam to Paris to Berlin to Portugal. It ended with Faith's suicide, and Phoebe wants to know what happened that drove her beloved sister over the edge (both literally and figuratively). So she travels across the Atlantic with this single-minded goal, remarking in a voice-over, "It's funny how people can have more power over you when they're not there." In the process, as Phoebe chases her sister's ghost (with an older and more conservative Wolf by her side), she learns a few things about letting go and finding her real self. It's not inherently uninteresting material, but the clinical presentation robs it of much potential power.
The film's saving grace is the performance of Jordana Brewster (whose only previous significant screen credit was as one of the students in Robert Rodriquez's The Faculty), whose reading of Phoebe pulls as much depth from the character as Brooks' direction will allow. Phoebe's mixture of self-confidence, bewilderment, and vulnerability is entirely credible. Less impressive is Cameron Diaz's Faith. As an actress, Diaz's willingness to take chances is well-established. She doesn't always demand first billing, a huge salary, and the other accouterments that come with being a big-name celebrity. The Invisible Circus is her latest low-profile venture, but the no-glamour approach doesn't work nearly as well here as it did in Being John Malkovich. Her portrayal calls to mind that of Kate Hudson in Almost Famous, and, for Diaz, it's not a favorable comparison. Hudson wore the role like a comfortable garment; in Diaz's case, it's a poor fit. Meanwhile, Christopher Eccleston's low-key approach often makes Wolf seem like a piece of furniture.
The Invisible Circus tells two stories in parallel. The first, presented through flashbacks, follows Faith on her trek from one corner of Europe to another. The second is Phoebe's journey across the same landscape. Of the two, the latter is significantly more involving than the former. Faith's growing involvement with European anarchist and terrorist organizations comes across as dull and routine. We've seen this sort of stuff before, and The Invisible Circus doesn't have anything new or interesting to contribute. On the other hand, Phoebe's emotional struggles as she copes with her burgeoning attraction to Wolf, learns truths about her sister, and, most importantly, discovers things about herself, holds our interest. However, the fact that the "present" storyline is more compelling than the "past" one creates a narrative imbalance, and, any time the movie spends more than a few minutes with Faith, we find ourselves wishing the director would cut things short and turn his attention back to Phoebe.
Had The Invisible Circus' cinematography been more dynamic, the film might have functioned as a travelogue. After all, the story takes us from the Western U.S. to Holland, France, Germany, and Portugal. But the camera work is as straightforward and lifeless as the plot structure. In the final analysis, there are things to appreciate about The Invisible Circus, but it's hard to shake the nagging feeling that, especially considering the quality of Brewster's work, this movie ranks as a missed opportunity.
© 2001 James Berardinelli