Costumes Far Better Off Doffed

THE SHOW: The movie: “Far and Away.”

THE SETUP: Impoverished Irish farmer Joseph Donelly (Tom Cruise, pictured) and wealthy landowner’s daughter Shannon Christie (Nicole Kidman, pictured) hook up in the most unlikely fashion and cross the Atlantic toward the great Oklahoma land rush of the late 19th Century.

THE LOOK: On the dowdy side. Costume designer Joanna Johnston has Kidman’s Shannon, a feisty young lass, all done up like a dowager. In her prim, prudish dresses with too much going on--one with ridiculous rushing, another with puffed up sleeves that drape underneath her armpits like an old curtain--and always topped with the silliest little hats, Kidman looks about as alluring as a lace antimacassar on a velvet armchair. Even Johnston’s color choices--deep aqua, gray-blue, cream--seem deadly. It isn’t until three quarters through the movie when, out of desperation, Shannon joins a chorus line and gets herself into a teensy-weensy striped corseted costume, that she looks fresh and appealing. (Actually, all the bar room ladies and prostitutes are hauntingly striking a la Toulouse-Lautrec paintings.)

In contrast, Shannon’s vibrant father Daniel (Robert Prosky) sparks instant joy, the moment he appears in a scarlet coat.

Cruise’s rough flaxen farming clothes appear noticeably unworn for a field laborer. But the background characters and extras, both in Ireland and in Boston, wear grimy garments that ring truer. Alas, it doesn’t speak well for costumes when the star--Cruise--looks best in the scenes where he appears with his clothes off.

The Oklahoma portion offers a change of pace, but most of the styles are a cliche, including Shannon’s wide-striped cotton shirt and prairie skirt.

It isn’t that the clothes aren’t perfectly serviceable, because they are. Perhaps there’s something too manufactured-looking about the total picture.

These days, the most successful period costumes seamlessly combine new designs with antique clothes (often rented from costume houses), accessories and textiles for historical authenticity. That appears to be missing here.

THE PAYOFF: You know what they say about how money can’t buy taste? Well, here’s a fat-cat Hollywood movie that makes a perfect cinematic example.