Mother Night . Nashville Scene . 07-14-97

Mother Night

DIRECTED BY: Keith Gordon

REVIEWED: 07-14-97

Kurt Vonnegut's best novel caught the author in a kind of delirium as he cranked out page after page of wicked satire. Keith Gordon's film version of Mother Night, like its source, traces the life and cruel fate of Howard Campbell, an American playwright living in Germany in the Nazi era. He's enlisted by American intelligence to deliver secret information through a weekly broadcast of virulent anti-Semitic radio commentary. After the war, Campbell is hunted by the Jews and lauded by racist militias, neither of whom know the truth about his life. Nick Nolte plays Campbell, and he gives the conflicted spy just the right note of blank rage. If only Gordon had supported Nolte with a more lively presentation of Vonnegut's deadpan craziness; instead, the film is usually too grim and quiet to touch the novel's fervid spirit. Even so, Vonnegut's story is too powerful, and haunting, to be completely betrayed.

--Noel Murray

Full Length Reviews
Mother Night

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