TOUCHED WITH FIRE review by Ronnie Malik – Katie Holmes deals with bipolar creativity

TOUCHED WITH FIRE review by Ronnie Malik – Katie Holmes deals with bipolar creativity

touchedwithfire-poster1

Director: Paul Dalio

Cast: Katie Holmes, Luke Kirby, Christine Lahti, Griffin Dunne, Bruce Altman, Edward Gelbinovich, Daniel Gerroll, Patrick Byas, Genevieve Adams, James Lecense, Angela Pierce, Rob Leo Roy, Maryann Urbano

Rating: C+

Touched with Fire, a film based on a book written by Kay Redfield Jamison, takes a look at the world through the eyes of those inflicted with bipolar disorder.  The story follows Carla (Katie Holmes) and Marco (Luke Kirby), two poets institutionalized against their will but destined to become lovers when the two cross paths.  Carla, a published poet, has difficulty expressing her emotions and struggles constantly to understand her mental illness. The young writer knows there is something very wrong with her and is tortured by the knowledge that she is not quite right in the head.  Using rhythm and rhyme to express himself, Marco is convinced that he is not of this world and is determined to prove that he can change society as we know it.

Initially, Carla and Marco look at each other with distrust and loathing, both convinced that the other is completely deranged.  But things quickly change as the two suddenly realize that they do connect on what seems to be a cosmic level. With nothing but time on their hands in the psychiatric hospital, they stay up late nights exchanging their secret thoughts. Marco discovers a book listing creative geniuses like Van Gogh, Emily Dickinson, and Tchaikovsky that produced great works of art despite their bipolar condition. This knowledge makes Marco believe that being bipolar is a gift.  He convinces Carla that their mental disease enables them to see the world differently, more clearly, and helps them to feel things on a different level. Together the two now believe that they are aliens from another planet and are part of heavenly bodies – she is the sun and he is the moon.

The two lovers are forced apart by their doctor who is convinced that Carla and Marco together only succeed at exasperating their mental condition, making things worse for both of them.  The writers also have well-meaning parents that try to keep the couple apart. But in the end they find a way to be together, and as time goes on Carla begins to doubt how they will function as a pair living in the real world. She tries to convince Marco to stay on his medication. Marco, frustrated and disappointed that Carla has lost her conviction that she is something extra special, will have nothing to do with any advice insisting that he stay medicated in order to function.

Katie Holmes is perfect as she pulls deep within herself to bring out the struggles of a young woman facing her insecurities and trying to make sense of her illness.  Luke Kirby is charismatic as he feverishly portrays a man who believes that he has no illness and is in realty a genius. Touched with Fire is an earnest and heartfelt attempt at showing us the challenges of living with mental illness. The problem with this movie is the pacing.  The storyline often feels disconnected as it moves through different time periods. There are confusing moments in the film that do get explained away in the end, but while the drama is taking place it is very difficult to understand what is happening.  The roles of the parents seem very disjointed. At times the parents of the writers seem very understanding and then suddenly they become very insensitive to the needs of their children. The sudden change in how the adults are approaching their kids makes no sense.

Towards the end, the film loses much of its steam and many watching may find boredom setting in as they anxiously wait for the story to end.  The message in Touched with Fire seems to be that staying medicated may just be the key to live a healthy normal life for those suffering from bipolar disorder – a theory that will be debated for many years to come.

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