Film Review: Mrs. Soffel (1984)

There are real life stories that look like beyond the imagination of even the most talented among Hollywood screenwriters. Yet, when someone actually tries to make them into films, results are often underwhelming. One such story served as the basis for Mrs. Soffel, 1984 period drama directed by Gillian Armstrong.

The plot is set in 1901 Pittsburgh and the title protagonist, played by Diane Keaton, is Kate Soffel, wife of Peter Soffel (played by Edward Herrmann), warden of Allegheny County Jail. After spending four months in bed for mysterious reasons she gets up and returns to routine of a devoted spouse, mother of four children and devout Christian who does her best to make life for prisoners as comfortable as possible. That includes comforting them and trying to set them on right path by reading Bible. Two of the prisoners are brothers Ed (played by Mel Gibson) and Jack Biddle (played by Matthew Modine), career criminals who are currently awaiting execution for murder committed during robbery. Both young men claim that they are innocent and their cause is taken by certain segments of the public, especially women who find Ed attractive. After Kate Soffel meets Ed, she too proves susceptible to his charms. As the hour of execution approaches, two of them are already having affair and Ed asks her to help him and his brother escape. After some hesitation, Kate does so and two brothers are set free. Ed, however, decides to take Kate with him, much to the protestations of Jack who thinks that the woman would slow them down as they try to reach relative safety of Canada.

Mrs. Soffel has the all ingredients for what was supposed to be a grand, or at least, interesting film – fascinating real story which was well-researched and faithfully adapted by screenwriter Ron Nyswaner; Australian director Gillian Armstrong, known for female-centred stories; great and talented actors like Diane Keaton and Mel Gibson in starring roles. The final results of everyone efforts, although technically polished, would nevertheless leave most of the audience cold. This might be attributed to inevitable comparisons with Bonnie and Clyde and similar films dealing with this kind to plot, but the main reason is Armstrong having too much focus on two main characters at the expense of everyone else. Good character actor like Edward Herrmann is wasted in one-dimensional role of Kate’s husband, just as Trini Alvarado is wasted in the role of her teen daughter. Nyswaner’s script attempts to give an answer why a woman belonging to upper middle class has forsaken her family, status, reputation and everything else for the love of charming criminal on death row, but in Armstrong’s direction that answer remains only in hints about decades of quietly accumulated frustrations. Film becomes alive only at the end when Armstrong shows little bits of skills in action cinema during scenes depicting western-style showdown, but this happens too late to improve general impression. Mrs. Soffel, partially made at authentic locations, including real life Allegheny County Jail, is well-made film that would appeal to fans of period dramas, but other viewers might enjoy only if they lower their expectations.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/31955-mrs-soffel
Critic: AA