'Stain' is only 'human'

The Human Stain, based on Philip Roth's mammoth novel, is a story of identity and the secrets we build our lives around. \nAnthony Hopkins is excellent as Coleman Silk, a Jewish classics professor accused of racism because of an innocent dropping of the word "spooks." Silk's wife dies shortly thereafter, presumably from the shock of the accusation, and Silk embarks on a book-writing crusade against his former employer. He befriends a local writer, Nathan Zuckerman (Gary Sinise), and takes up with a young woman, Faunia Farely (Nicole Kidman), who works at the post office and as a janitor at the college. \nHopkins was badly miscast given a late-breaking plot twist, but does a good job with the role nonetheless. Wentworth Miller, who plays the young Silk, was excellent -- controlled, smooth and expressive. It was a hard sell, though, from Miller to Hopkins. Ed Harris, as Faunia Farely's crazed ex-husband, gives the best performance of the movie. He's cold and passionate at the same time; nobody has done crazy this well in a long, long, time. \nNicole Kidman was excellent as the blueblood-darling-turned-janitor Faunia Farely, and her aristocratic looks are nicely juxtaposed against her chain-smoking and promiscuity. \nThis film explores some of the issues closest to the heart, but it didn't delve deeply enough into any of them. It is brave in its approach of the charge of racism and in its portrayal of Silk as a victim of a PC-obsessed era. But for a film that explores such deep subjects, it was lacking.