Themes: Faltering Friendships, Teachers and Students, Age Disparity Romance
Main Cast: Helen Mirren, Eric Stoltz, Julie Delpy, Peter Fonda, Tom McCamus
Release Year: 1999
Country: US
Run Time: 104 minutes
Plot
The private life of celebrated author and philosopher Ayn Rand takes center stage in this film produced for the Showtime cable network. In 1951, Ayn Rand (Helen Mirren) is a best-selling author and celebrated thinker when she meets Nathaniel Branden (Eric Stoltz) and his friend Barbara (Julie Delpy), two college students who admire her writing and ideas. Rand takes the students under her wing, but before long her mentoring becomes less benevolent and more abusive. She badgers Barbara and Nathaniel, who were never more than close friends, into marrying, and while Nathaniel responds well to Rand's tutelage, Barbara begins to shrink from Rand's lack of compassion, which Rand sees as weakness. Things become more uncomfortable when, after Barbara and Nathaniel join Ayn and her often-ignored husband Frank O'Connor (Peter Fonda) on a vacation, Ayn and Nathaniel demand "permission" to have an affair, which they feel is dictated by the importance of their work. Based on Barbara Branden's autobiography about her years with Rand, The Passion Of Ayn Rand was premiered at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Edward Bonutto - Art Director, Beth Klein - Casting, Diane Kerbel - Casting, Resa McConaghy - Costume Designer, Michael Zenon - First Assistant Director, Christopher Menaul - Director, Dave Martin - Editor, Doug Chapin - Executive Producer, Barry Krost - Executive Producer, Marilyn Lewis - Executive Producer, Irwin Meyer - Executive Producer, Steven Hewitt - Executive Producer, Martin Walters - Line Producer, Jeff Beal - Composer (Music Score), Lindsey Hermer-Bell - Production Designer, Ron Orieux - Cinematographer, Peter Crane - Producer, Peter Cran - Producer, Linda Curran Wexelblatt - Producer, Brendan Smith - Set Designer, Howard Korder - Screenwriter, Mary Gallagher - Screenwriter, Barbara Branden - Book Author
The film stars Helen Mirren as the philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand, who engages into an affair with a psychologist 25 years her junior by the name of Nathaniel Branden, played by Eric Stoltz. Branden built up an institute to spread Rand's ideas, but the two eventually had a falling out. The film also stars Julie Delpy as Branden's wife, Barbara, and Peter Fonda as Rand's husband Frank O'Connor.
Based on reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an overall approval rating from critics of 80%, with an average score of 6.8/10.[1] Writing in Variety, David Kronke called the film "an ambitious, visually sumptuous attempt to depict a bizarre element of a controversial personality's life".[2]
