The Cider House Rules

The Cider House Rules is the coming of age story of Homer Wells (Tobey Maguire), a young man learning what life is all about. The film is set in St. Cloud's, Maine during World War II.

Homer is a resident of an orphanage run by Dr. William Larch (Michael Caine). Homer was adopted twice when he was young only to return to the orphanage. His first adoptive parents returned him because he was too quiet. Homer was taken from his second adoptive home because he was mistreated.

After the unsuccessful second adoption, Dr. Larch decided to raise Homer and give him a purpose at the orphanage. Dr. Larch frequently preaches his very basic philosophy that in any life, one must be of use. Homer's uses include consoling the children who weren't selected when one of the orphans was adopted. He is trained as a doctor by Dr. Larch and, even though he has never graduated high school, he assists with births, placements and illegal abortions.

Homer learns to appreciate why Dr. Larch performs illegal abortions when a young girl is found on the orphanage property injured from a poorly performed abortion from someone not trained to do so. The girl dies from her injuries and Dr. Larch explains that he breaks the law in order to prevent such tragedies.

A young couple arrives at the orphanage to get an abortion. Candy Kendall (Charlize Theron) is two months pregnant. Her boyfriend Wally Worthington (Paul Rudd) is a pilot home from the war so he can help his mother, who is widowed, with the fall's apple harvest.

After the procedure, Homer decides to leave the orphanage with Wally and Candy to see the world. We learn that Homer life has been very secluded. He has never seen the ocean, never seen a lobster, and has seen only one movie in his life. Wally's family give Homer a job picking apples at their orchard. He lives with migrant workers on the farm and quickly learns his new craft.

Not long after, Wally returns to the war in Europe. Homer and Candy start spending time together, innocently at first. But it is not long and they start having an affair.

Dr. Larch and Homer write letters while Homer lives at the orchard. They banter back and forth. Dr. Larch tries to convince Homer to come back to the orphanage where he is wanted and needed. Dr. Larch also tries to persuade that the things he does, the rules he breaks, are done so that things will not be left to chance. Dr. Larch sends Homer a doctors bag with medical instruments in a last attempt to lure him back.

Homer tries to convince Dr. Larch that he is truly happy and learning new things everyday in his new life. He says he wants to stay and believes he is being of some use. Homer's new doctor's bag is put to use when Rose Rose (Erykah Badu), a young woman who lives with him and other migrant workers at the orchard, get's pregnant. She is pregnant at the hand of her own father, Mr. Rose (Delroy Lindo). Homer offers his assistance in what ever she decides to do. Homer truly understands the service Dr. Larch has provided over all these years when Rose suggests she will take care of it herself. Worried about what she could do to herself, he convinces Rose and her father to allow him to perform a safe abortion with his newly acquired medical tools.

Wally's family and Candy are given terrible news that Wally has been shot down in Europe. He survived the crash but caught Encephalitis B from mosquitoes in the jungle and has become permanently paralyzed. Homer and Candy's relationship comes to an abrupt end; Candy's place is with Wally.

Near the end of the film, Homer learns that Dr. Larch has died from an accidental overdoes of ether. He returns to St. Cloud's and takes up the work of his mentor caring for the children at the orphanage.

The Cider House Rules' writer, John Irving, and director Lasse Hallstrom, team up to deliver a strong moral message; that sometimes rules need to be questioned and broken from time to time for the greater good, and that human life is not so easily governed. This theme is reinforced several times throughout out the film as the characters face numerous challenges.

Michael Caine, during an interview about The Cider House Rules, said that the film is a comedy, a drama and an action film, yet it is none of these. What he is referring to is that life, real life, is all of these things. Life is complicated, doesn't always turn out the way we want it to and unfortunately bad things happen to good people.

The Cider House Rules is beautiful from a visual point of view. It was shot in scenic areas of Vermont, Maine and Massachusetts. Cinematographer Oliver Stapleton uses very deep, traditional tones throughout the film. The film seems to be the color of fall in New England throughout.. The orphanage is shown as a darker place but characters are illumated sufficiently as to provide the sense of love and hope. The props and attire appear very authentic and represent the World War II time period accurately.

The acting performances of The Cider House Rules are for the most part very good. Michael Caine's portrayal of a slightly arrogant and self-destructive yet self-sacrificing and loving Dr. Larch is inspiring. The only disappointment I found in his performance is that his New England accent did come and go throughout the film.

Charlize Theron showed terrific range. Her girl-next-door looks were skillfully melded with the depth of her character. Candy appeared a bit flighty and loose at the beginning of The Cider House Rules, but Theron convincingly gave the her character a sense of depth and inner conflict. First she knew she shouldn't be with Homer but couldn't be alone. At the end she loves Homer but duty demands she remain with Wally.

Tobey Maguire developed Homer with the right combination of innocence and moral character. Although his performance seemed flat a first, it later proved to be an authentic element of Homer's personality and essential to the story line..

Delroy Lindo (Mr. Rose) and Erykah Badu (Rose Rose) delivered terrific performances in lesser but extremely important roles in the the film.

The Cider House Rules director Lassee Hallstrom does a fantastic job of instilling human realism in ordinary people struggling with common problems. I was particularly impressed with his work with the children of the film. He was able to show their youthful energy and innocence without loosing focus on their predicament.

Hallstrom is also skillful in how he show the impacts of abortion on those affected with out showing any blood or other graphic detail. He also does this without instilling pro-life or pro-choice stance. Just as the numerous challenges of the characters of the film, it is simply real life.

In the final analysis The Cider House Rules represent rules that are imposed on elements of society created by people who know very little about the circumstances of that specific world. These rules must be questioned.