Rachel, Rachel (Paul Newman, 1968)

A realer, more lived-in approach to the small-town-ennui story than Pretty Poison from the same year. I wish Newman had the bravery to allow us to glean the inner life of Joanne Woodward's titular schoolmarm from her face and gestures instead of reductive voice-overs. And the frequent explosions into the conditional tense betray the film's wrinkles; what might have comes off jazzy back then now feels rather corny. Still, with a drifty narrative and fantastic performances, Rachel, Rachel honors the textures of daily life for a woman unsure if her actions have any consequence whatsoever. And while I agree with Vito Russo and Michael Koresky that Newman and screenwriter Stewart Stern fail to grant the same sensitivity to the repressed lesbian Calla (a typically terrific Estelle Parsons), I'm comfortable overall with the portrait. Contrary to Russo's assertion, "it" definitely comes up again in the final scene when Rachel and Calla part ways amicably. And Koresky sells Calla short. Just because Rachel is finally leaving town while Calla remains doesn't mean the former will necessarily self-actualize in Oregon and Calla is doomed to embody the sad homosexual stereotype. Both of their stories end there and their futures are unknown. 

Grade: A-minus