As I watched Stone, I waited for it to get better. After all, Stone has a great cast and explores an interesting idea.  But that is not enough to save Stone from being a disappointing film.

Parole officer Jack (Robert De Niro) is about to retire from his prison job. Prisoner Stone (Edward Norton) is getting ready for his parole hearing and needs a good report from Jack. Stone asks his gorgeous wife Lucetta (Milla Jovovich) to use her considerable charms to influence Jack.  Jack appears to be an uptight straight -arrow, but flashbacks show his marriage to the long suffering Madelyn (Frances Conroy) has long been an unhappy one. When Stone claims to undergo a religious awakening, the fates of these four characters become inextricably entwined. But their motives are no longer so clear.

The anything-but-subtle soundtrack consists of religious talk radio about sin and buzzing insects.  Which is more annoying is up to the viewer. (For the first half of the film I assumed the buzzing was a problem with the projector, but the total effect of the two made me want to scream.) Stone moves at a very slow pace, which could be a comment on the slow pace of Jack’s life. He spends a lot of time sitting in silence on his porch with his wife. She likes to go to church and read the bible aloud. He appears to enjoy neither. The look of their kitchen and the rotary wall phone suggest that not much has changed in Jack’s life or his marriage since Jack and his wife were a young couple with a small child. Juxtaposed with the silence of Jack’s marriage are copious amounts of cryptic talking between Stone and Jack, both seated on opposite sides of Jack’s desk. The only parts of the film that pulse with life are the scenes with Jack and Lucetta. It is a credit to all four actors that they breathe what life they can into Angus MacLachlan’s lugubrious screenplay.

De Niro turns in his usual excellent performance here; doubly impressive due to the taciturn nature of his character. Jack is tightly wound and not much is revealed about why he is unhappy or what he wants.  De Niro’s charisma keeps Jack interesting and even somewhat sympathetic.  De Niro is equally strong in scenes with each of the other three actors. Norton’s Stone wears corn rows and talks with urban speech patterns. Norton seems comfortable when Stone is menacing, but less so with the ambiguities of Stone’s changing character. Frances Conroy adds sweetness to a character that could be preachy and unlikable. When reading the bible with Jack, Madelyn asks her husband, “Did you lose your place?” Conroy delivers the line without rancor, but with a knowing tone. But for me, the biggest surprise is Milla Jovovich (of all those Resident Evil films). Her Lucetta sports low cut blouses and flashes her big blue eyes and wide smile as she flirts with and flatters Jack. Jovovich manages to make Lucetta seem both dangerously sexy and sweet and uncomplicated. She gives a layered performance and makes Lucetta strangely likeable.

During the film Stone asks Jack, “You never did anything bad?” The question of morality is raised, but never really satisfactory explored. That is a shame, because this cast deserves better.

Stone. Directed by John Curran. Robert De Niro (Jack), Edward Norton (Stone), Milla Jovovich (Lucetta) and Frances Conroy (Madylyn) Overture Films, 2010.

Gail sees a movie appears every Wednesday.

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