Main Cast: Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron, Delroy Lindo, Paul Rudd, Michael Caine
Release Year: 1999
Country: US
Run Time: 131 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
John Irving scripted this screen adaptation of his 1985 novel. Set during World War II, The Cider House Rules concerns Homer Wells (Tobey Maguire), an orphan who spent most of his childhood at the St. Cloud Orphanage in rural Maine, where he grew up under the strong but affectionate care of Dr. Wilbur Larch (Michael Caine). Larch has passed along his medical education to Homer, and the young man helps the doctor care for abandoned children and the newborn babies of unwed mothers; however, Homer refuses to assist Larch with the illegal abortions that he performs on the side; Homer has moral objections to abortion, while Larch believes in the rights of the individual and sees it as his duty to keep women in need away from dangerous incompetents. Wally Worthington (Paul Rudd), an air-force pilot, brings his girlfriend Candy (Charlize Theron) to St. Cloud for an abortion, and Homer decides to go with them when they leave, hoping to see the world; however, the three end up going no further than the state line, where Wally's mother (Kate Nelligan) runs an apple orchard and cider mill, and Candy's family traps lobsters. When Wally ships off to battle, Homer grows closer to Candy, and the two fall in love. But their idyllic life at the cider mill is interrupted when Rose Rose (Erykah Badu), a field worker at the orchard, becomes pregnant and her father, cider-house foreman Mr. Rose (Delroy Lindo), turns out to be the father of her unborn child. This news coupled with the death of Dr. Larch, forces Homer to take a long look at both his moral principles and his future. Rapper Heavy D appears in the supporting cast as Peaches. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Karen Schulz-Gropman - Art Director, Michele Platt - Associate Producer, Lila Yacoub - Associate Producer, Kerry Barden - Casting, Billy Hopkins - Casting, Suzanne Smith - Casting, Alan C. Blomquist - Co-producer, Leslie Holleran - Co-producer, Renee Ehrlich Kalfus - Costume Designer, Elizabeth Shelton - Costume Designer, Stephen P. Dunn - First Assistant Director, Lasse Hallström - Director, Lisa Churgin - Editor, Bob Weinstein - Executive Producer, Harvey Weinstein - Executive Producer, Meryl Poster - Executive Producer, Bobby Cohen - Executive Producer, Rachel Portman - Composer (Music Score), Eleanora Winslow-Price - Makeup, Maryellen James - Makeup, Oliver Stapleton - Camera Operator, David Gropman - Production Designer, Richard N. Gladstein - Producer, Beth A. Rubino - Set Designer, Petur Hliddal - Sound/Sound Designer, John Irving - Screenwriter, Tom Perry - Re-Recording Mixer, John Irving - Book Author
Homer Wells, an orphan, is the film's protagonist. He grew up in an orphanage directed by Dr. Wilbur Larch after being returned twice by foster parents. His first foster parents thought he was too quiet and the second parents beat him. Dr. Larch is also secretly an abortionist and trains Homer in the realm of gynaecology and abortions as an apprentice, despite Homer never even having attended high school.
The film continues as Homer decides to leave the orphanage with Candy Kendall and her boyfriend Wally Worthington, a young couple who work at the Worthington family apple orchard, who come to the clinic to have an abortion. Wally leaves to fight in World War II. While Wally is away, Homer and Candy have an affair. Later, Wally's plane is shot down and he is paralyzed from the waist down. When he returns home, Candy takes care of him and leaves Homer.
While he is away from the orphanage, Homer lives on the Worthington estate. He goes to work picking apples with Mr. Rose's team. Mr. Rose and his team are migrant workers who are employed seasonally at the orchard by the Worthingtons. Rose impregnates his own daughter, and Homer, who disapproves of abortions, realizes that in Rose's case, he must perform one for her. Later, when Mr. Rose makes another amorous advance toward his daughter, she stabs him, and as a last request, the dying Mr. Rose asks the other workers to tell the police that his death was a suicide. Homer decides to return to the orphanage after Larch's death from inhaling an etheroverdose (Larch was addicted to the substance), and works as the new director. Homer learns at the end of the film that Larch had faked his medical record to keep him out of the war, and later made fake credentials for Homer in order to convince the board overseeing the orphanage to appoint him as the next director. In the end, Homer comes to fill the paternal role that Larch held for the children of the orphanage.
The film received a mixed reaction from critics. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded it just two stars, saying: "The story touches many themes, lingers with some of them, moves on and arrives at nowhere in particular." [1] By contrast, Leonard Maltin awarded the film a rare four-star rating. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes it holds a favorable 72 percent rating.
Differences from novel
Due to time constraints, the film excludes many portions of the novel, including the characters Melony (another orphan) and Angel (Candy and Homer's secret child) who were major characters in the book. John Irving, who wrote the film's screenplay, has stated that he made this decision because he would rather have omitted subplots and characters than write an adaptation that could not really do justice to them.
Academy Awards
The Cider House Rules won two Academy Awards and was nominated for an additional five:
