|
starring: Tony Goldwyn, Benjamin Ungar, Timothy Hutton, Tom McDermott, Sarah Jessica Parkerdirected by: Daniel J. Sullivan
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780788808357
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
ISBN: 0788808354
Label: Walt Disney Video
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Walt Disney Video
Release Date: September 01, 1998
Running Time: 97 minutes
Sales Rank: 53805
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Theatrical Release Date: March 14, 1997
Related Items:
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
The shadow of the Holocaust hangs over Ron Rifkin's debonair publisher, a supremely intelligent but arrogant man who is destroying his tony company with a self-indulgent project. This catalyst for a family crisis unites his children, Sarah Jessica Parker, Timothy Hutton, and Tony Goldwyn, in an effort to save him and their business. There is a strong emotional core to this adapted play, but as past and present collide, the focus shifts uncomfortably from father to son, convincing us that part of the story remained on a cutting room floor. Just watch this for the beautifully shaded performances, especially by Rifkin. --Rochelle O'Gorman
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Incredible acting saves this play adaptation from being consumed.
In the 1990's,The Manhattan Theatre Club and Playwright's Horizon of New York City workshopped a wonderful and potent play by aspiring writer Jon Robin Baitz entitled SUBSTANCE OF FIRE. I had the chance to see this new "work-in-progress- play" by a young aspirant and loved it!I often wondered what became of the play.There was so much that was said!
To my delight Baitz adapted his own stage play for the screen and the result was a still compelling and slightly reworked version that, ... Read More
Rating:  - INTERESTING BUT WEAK ENSEMBLE PIECE
I generally like Tony Goldwyn; but in this, he simply fills a role. The rest of the cast is convincing, though unappealing - except for Ron Rifkin as fine book publisher Isaac Geldhart, a survivor of the Holocaust, who is now risking everything to publish an extremely expensive book about this tragedy, much to the chagrin of his profit-conscious son, Aaron (Goldwyn). The rest of his neglected and dysfunctional family are highlighted by Timothy Hutton as his unhealthy, landscape architect son, Martin ... Read More
Rating: - Vast, but unrealized, potential.
The Substance of Fire (Daniel Sullivan, 1996)
The Substance of Fire gives us a fantastic cast and an even better premise, and then does very little with either. This is terribly unfortunate, because done right, this could have been one of filmdom's great moments.
Isaac Geldhart (Ron Rifkin, lately of Pulse) is the head of a small publishing house. His wife has recently died, and he's not handling it well. The press specializes in heavy academic nonfiction, the kind of thing ... Read More
Rating:  - The Generational Legacy Of Survival
The Substance Of Fire is a powerful, profoundly upsetting investigation into the effects of the Holocaust on the lives of a present day New York City family. Although decades have elapsed since Isaac Geldhart escaped the persecution and slaughter as a small child, the recent death of his beloved wife triggers an ineluctable slide into willful self-destruction and resultant victimhood. His loss, it would seem, creates the internal conditions for symbolic reenactment of the childhood trauma. His three ... Read More
Rating: - Parent-Children Family Conflict Drama Gets Out-of-Focus
This play-adaptation begins as an interesting family drama. The main character is a holocoust survivor who publishes "serious books" with limited commercial potential. Although the business had been moderately successful, it is now in serious financial difficulty , and his children try to convince him to save the business by publishing a book which has great commercial potential. ..., he refuses and pushes ahead with his current project which is a book on Nazi medical experiments.
So far, ... Read More
|
