By Curt Schleier

FIERCE PEOPLE is a movie that should be applauded for its ambition.  If its execution isn’t perfect, it at least serves as an object lesson of the inherent difficulties in bringing a complex book to the screen.

Adopted by Dirk Wittenborn from his own novel, the film quite cleverly juxtaposes and compares the behavior of a primitive South American tribe called the FIERCE PEOPLE with the behavior of their supposedly more civilized cousins in ritzy, upscale New Jersey horse country of the 1970s.

At its center is 16-year-old Finn Earl, whose only real connection to his anthropologist father is through the documentaries Dad does about the Ishkanani people.  However, his plans to spend the summer with dad are aborted when his drug addicted mom has a crisis the morning she is to accompany him to the Passport office.  Finn has to run to the local “drug” store for her eight ball and is caught up in a sweep when the place is raided.

Apparently, the experience is enough to scare mom Liz (Diane Lane) straight.  She calls an old friend, a rich man whose life she once saved, takes Finn and goes to his house for the summer.  The man, Osborne (Donald Sutherland), is so wealthy he owns 10 square miles of the state, appointed his chauffeur as the local police chief.  Everyone in the area is apparently beholden to Osborne.    

And so, Finn narration begins “my time of the fierce people in deepest Carteret, N.J.”    

My biggest problem was with my secret crush, Diane Lane. Oops.  I guess that’s not a secret anymore.  But the woman is beautiful, and quite frankly I don’t believe Diane Lane would look strung out if she was on drugs.  But she certainly doesn’t look strung out here. Moreover, she made a remarkable overnight recovery.

One of my basic beliefs about film and books and TV shows is that the best ones transport viewers/readers to another place.  But a dischordant note – a junkie who looks like Miss America and who has a no-sweat overnight recover – that pulls you out of the moment can ruins the best of films.  If you’re busy wondering how Lane recovered so quickly and why she couldn’t teach that method to Lindsay Lohan, you’re head is not in the film where it should be.


There are other nits as well, including a brief appearance by a poacher that seems to be there mainly to reinforce subsequent plot points.  Still, this is basically a strong film and it’s hard to imagine why it’s been languishing on a studio shelf for two years.

At its core, FIERCE PEOPLE is a combination coming-of-age and drama of manners -- and that is done extremely well and with a fresh approach.  It’s interesting in an anthropological way in the etiquette of the super rich.  For instance, Hawaiian is the code name for Jews, so people don’t confuse them with regular people at their parties.

Some people accept Liz and Finn, but only on a superficial way.  “You’re toys to them,” Liz is told by a man who recently made love to her – essentially revealing his own outlook.


Finn is brutalized by those he trusted, and discovers he may have to resort to the ways of the FIERCE PEOPLE if he is to save his soul.  While FIERCE PEOPLE isn’t all it could be, it’s still a notch above most of the film fare out there now.