The New Lathe of Heaven

Cafe Society
1

Did anyone else watch this on Sunday night? It was terrible and nothing at all like the novel nor was it even close to being like the PBS production back in the eighties. It’s almost as if the writers wanted nothing to do with the aliens or any of the other plot points which always kept my interest. The only thing that was kept the same was the fact that George Orr dreamt and changed the world by dreaming, also he kept reducing the population.
At least from what I read at the official Ursula LeGuin site she has very little to do with this production.
Your thoughts, please.

2

All of which was the point, thank you very much. The director was very clear about not aping the previous movie.

3

It’s been a long time sice I read the book but even without the comparison the movie still stunk.

Formula: Title (and barest shred of plot) from beloved SF book + boring, talentless but good-looking young star + troubled ex-major-star to bring a touch of class + attractive love interest (regardless of whether it’s relevant to the plot) = viewer magnet.

What was with those clothes? Would any rational person wear that monstrosity that Orr wore on his first visit? I thought maybe it was part of his sentence to have to wear that.

This is yet another reminder of Hollywood’s complete and utter lack of understanding about what SF is.

4

Sorry, but the point was to make it nothing at all like the novel? Why bother adapting it for television, then? At least he succeeded in not making it like the previous movie, which by all accounts I’ve heard was actually pretty good.

5

The first movie was pretty good, and I think it holds up reasonably well, except for one very bad special effect (the alien spaceship), which is forgiveable, given the low budget and the state of technology at the time. I also think it was closer to the original novel, although it’s been years since I read it.

I don’t remember if the psychiatrist character is somewhat sympathetic in the book, as he is in the first movie. In this new version, he was pretty much an out-and-out villain, a less interesting choice, in my opinion.

6

I just watched LOH last night – I have not seen the first movie and I’d read the book several years ago, so just have vague recollections of what the story is supposed to be. Apparently I’ve forgotten quite a bit, from the other comments here!

I rather liked the movie - though I kept thinking of Kelso from “That 70’s Show” everytime I saw George. :rolleyes:

I found myself paying close attention to the costuming - which I think portrayed the tone of the events quite well. George’s “monstrosity” of a coat and boots in the first few scenes IMHO portrayed his depression/oppression. (Did you notice George ALWAYS wore a jacket?)

On the other hand, the red mini-vest-with-a-handbag-hanging-from-it-under-the-arm that Lisa wore in the first observation scene was just stupid.

The acting… meh. James Caan was probably the strongest actor(natch) and Lisa Bonet wasn’t bad either. I know George was supposed to be passive, but Lukas Haas played him almost as a non-entity! He also seemed a little young for how I remember thinking of that character.

I did like Shelia McCarthy’s portrayal of her character (Penny) & am trying to think of where I’ve seen her before - IMDB isn’t jogging my memory. Ditto for David Strathairn /Manny.

I plan on re-reading the book this weekend, but for now: some observations:

One event I do remember from the book was Dr. Haber suggesting George dream about solving racial tension - everyone turned grey. Donno how convincingly they could have done that in the movie!

Maybe it’s just me, but I’m assuming the symbolism behind the names is intentional:

  • Dr. Haber: “haber” is a Spanish verb that basically means “there is/are” which comes from the Latin “habere”.

  • George Orr: “Or” - choosing between realities. This one was given away by a comment from Dr. Haber at the end of the movie.

  • Mannie: well duh… “man”. Was he in the book or not?

  • Heather LeLache: um, ok, this one I don’t have much for. LeLache = leche = mother’s milk? Ok… that’s weak.

Did anyone else find it ironically amusing that one of the sponsors for the show was Ambien? Gotta assume some programming person was on the ball… :smiley: