Passion of Mind ** (2000, Demi Moore, Eloise Eonnet, Joss Ackland, William Fichtner, Sinéad Cusack, Peter Riegert, Stellan Skarsgård, Julianne Nicholson) – Classic Movie Review 10,820

Joss Ackland recalled: ”Then there was Passion of Mind in 2000 with Demi Moore. Terrible script. Awful, actually. But I needed the money.’ And he called Moore ‘alright, but not very bright or talented’.

Director Alain Berliner’s 2000 American drama film Passion of Mind is a plush but bland psychological romantic melodrama, with Demi Moore as Marty Talridge, a single, high-powered New York City literary agent who appears to have it all but is haunted by dreams of living another, peaceful life as Marie, a single mom in Provence, France, living with her two daughters. When each woman falls asleep, she dreams that she is the other. Both are seeing therapists.

It is not a particularly interesting idea, script problems abound in the screenplay by producer Ronald Bass and David Field, and Moore is not the kind of actress who could make this work anyway. However, Joss Ackland adds some authority as Moore’s French psychiatrist, Dr Langer. He is the standout in an interesting cast.

It was released on May 26, 2000 in the US but, after it bombed at the box office there, it went straight to video in the UK.

Also in the cast are Peter Riegert as the New York psychiatrist Dr Peters, Sinéad Cusack as Marie’s older friend Jessie, Stellan Skarsgård, Gerry Bamman, Chaya Cuénot, Julianne Nicholson, Hadrian Dagannaud-Brouard and Eloise Eonnet.

Demi Moore: ‘alright, but not very bright or talented’.

In 2001 Ackland recalled: ”Then there was Passion of Mind last year with Demi Moore. Terrible script. Awful, actually. But I needed the money.’ And he called Moore ‘alright, but not very bright or talented’.

Passion of Mind is directed by Alain Berliner, runs 105 minutes, is made by Lakeshore, is released by Paramount, is written by Ronald Bass and David Field, is shot by Eduardo Serra, is produced by Ronald Bass, is scored by Randy Edelman and is designed by Pierre-François Limbosch.

It is the first English-language film from Belgian director Alain Berliner, best known for Ma Vie en Rose (1997). After bad reviews, it was a box-office bomb, grossing only $769,272 against its $12 million budget.

Moore was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress but escaped winning by losing to Madonna for The Next Best Thing.

The cast are Demi Moore as Martha Marie / ‘Marty’ Talridge, Julianne Nicholson as Kim, William Fichtner as Aaron Reilly, Sinéad Cusack as Jessie, Joss Ackland as the French psychiatrist Dr Langer, Peter Riegert as the New York psychiatrist Dr Peters, Stellan Skarsgård as William Granther, Eloise Eonnet as Jenny Talridge, Gerry Bamman as Ed Youngerman, Gerry Bamman, Chaya Cuénot, and Hadrian Dagannaud-Brouard.

Joss Ackland CBE (29 February 1928 – 19 November 2023) appeared in more than 130 films and TV shows. He was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for the 1987 film White Mischief.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 10,820

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