‘Feast of Love’ (2007) Review

Feast of Love Synopsis: A meditation on love and its various incarnations, set within a community of friends in Oregon. and is described as an exploration of the magical, mysterious and sometimes painful incarnations of love.

Feast of Love follows the stories of several individuals whose lives intersect. Bradley (Greg Kinnear) is a coffee shop owner whose wife of six years leaves him for another woman. He then falls for his realtor, Diana (Radha Mitchell), who is having an affair with a very married David (Billy Burke), who has not yet made any plans to leave his wife for her.

Bradley also employs a young recovering addict named Oscar (Toby Hemingway), who quickly falls for his new co-worker Chloe (Alexa Davalos). Bradley’s friend Harry (Morgan Freeman) is currently on leave from his teaching job at the local university due to the death of his son and seems to be the go-to figure for a listening ear and advice.

I have always liked these kinds of movies, at least when the script allows for enough character development. It’s one thing to cleverly plot out various intersecting storylines, but if the characters come across as one-dimensional or flat-out unlikeable, the movie doesn’t work.

Feast of Love doesn’t fail completely. Many aspects of the film feel manipulative, begging the viewer to feel the characters’ agony as they find and lose love, but there are also moments of sincerity that work. Those moments generally revolve around the always dependable Freeman and Kinnear, whose work I frequently enjoy.

This movie is definitely made for adults if the R rating didn’t give that away. There is a lot of sex, something most romantic dramedies steer clear of, complete with plenty of female nudity. But I discovered this movie is based on a novel of vignettes called The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter. The book’s synopsis gives me the impression that it dives much deeper into the minds and lives of the characters than the movie could ever hope to.

That’s not to say the book is any better, but it seems as though it may touch upon aspects of the characters’ lives that the movie just barely grazes over – for example, Bradley’s ex-wife’s newfound sexuality, as well as Oscar and Chloe’s dalliance in the porn industry. These are things that might have made the movie and characters more interesting than the typical adult-themed drama.

Feast of Love starts strong and with plenty of humor. Unfortunately, by the time I reached the movie’s mid-point, the laughs were harder to come by. Light and fluffy was replaced by heavy and melodramatic. Perhaps this was purposeful on Benton’s part, a symbol of love and marriage, but I doubt it, as the movie is not that deep. There is another classic Morgan Freeman voiceover, but I wanted more.

Given the film’s title, I need to write some food-related critique. Let’s see… the beginning of Feast of Love was like receiving a delicious, promising appetizer, only to be served a disappointing entrée followed by a sugar-free dessert. Ultimately, it is not worth the time spent.

Watched: 05/04/2020
Notable Song: Falling Slowly by The Frames