Marcus (Logan Lerman) is the son of a New Jersey Jewish butcher who, to escape following in his father’s footsteps (and avoid the draft into the Korean War), enrolls in a Catholic college in a small town in Ohio with hopes of becoming a lawyer. His struggles with adapting to college life are further complicated when he meets Olivia, a beautiful but troubled student with whom he quickly falls for.
On the surface, Marcus is a relatively simple character. He just wants to keep to himself, and not be bothered by the distractions that college life has to offer. But as the film unfolds, we see that Marcus is incredibly complex, and that his attributes, though seemingly harmless at first, are masking a series of underlying issues. Lerman, best known from 3:10 to Yuma and the Percy Jackson films, gives a stand out performance here. Lerman handles character’s complexity brilliantly, allowing Marcus’s shortcomings to convincingly slowly service, but never overplaying them, or letting them define the character.
The film deals heavily with the sexual stunted 1950’s, and touches on how mental health was perceived in mid 20th century America. Sarah Gadon gives a strong performance as the girl who’s tortured past derails the carefully planned path of Marcus. The highlight of the film comes when Marcus is called in to speak with the college’s dean, played perfectly by seasoned actor and playwright Tracy Letts. Marcus defends his view on religion, while the dean slowly attempts to dismantle Marcus. The scene plays out like a verbal chess, each character trying to match and one-up the skills of their adversary. It’s an absolutely engrossing scene, and I would have loved to see more like it (though we are treated to a short rematch later in the film).
The movie was adapted from Philip Roth semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, and while it moves at a wonderful pace through most of the film, the third act feels a bit rushed. This is no doubt the result of attempting to condense the book into the time frame of a movie. As the film comes in at a running time of 110 minutes, it easily could have afforded an extra ten or fifteen minutes to allow the climax play out with a bit more comfort, and let the film breath a bit more.
Aside from that minor gripe, Indignation is a compelling coming of age drama, aided by some strong performances. It’s not playing in a wide release, but I would say it’s definately worth tracking down.