http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/09/28/FEAST-OF-LOVE-Needs-Less-Courses.aspx Shhh. Listen carefully.  If you hear something that sounds like a gunshot, it’s okay.  It’s probably Charles Baxter doing the only honorable thing left to him. Baxter wrote FEAST OF LOVE, a novel that was nominated for a National Book Award.  This is a major accomplishment in the world of literature, somewhere between an Emmy and a Nobel Prize.  He sold the rights to the film, and has probably just seen the finished product.  Hence the hari-kari.  It’s not like he had a choice. Let me put it simply.  FEAST OF LOVE left me hungry.  For less.     I understand that novels and films are two different media.  I know that translating one into the other is difficult and frequently requires significant changes and even compromise. So this review is not negative because the film is a significant disservice to a very good book.  No, in this case, the film is bad on its own merits.     Moreover, it is especially disappointing because its director is Robert Benton, who has (on the subject of awards) two Oscars for screenplays (BONNIE AND CLYDE, PLACES OF THE HEART) to his credit as well as another for directing KRAMER VS. KRAMER.  When you go into one of his films, you have the right to expect more.  I can’t imagine he saw this screenplay by Allison Burnett and said, “Hey this is good.”     FEAST OF LOVE’s problem is character development – or, more accurately, lack of it.  Most of the main players’s actions seem to be designed to move the plot forward rather than being a natural outgrowth of the plot.     Harry Stevenson (Morgan Freeman) is a teacher at a Portland college, apparently a professor of wisdom.  Ask him anything, and he has what turns out to be the correct answer.  Then the question becomes are you smart enough to take the advice you asked for? en-US Critics Rant info@criticsrant.com Subtext Version 1.9.4.0 http://www.criticsrant.com/images/default_gravatar_bullhorn.png http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/09/28/FEAST-OF-LOVE-Needs-Less-Courses.aspx 77 60