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The Cider House Rules
Release Date: March 17th 2000
Distributor: Miramax Films
Certificate: 12
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron, Delroy Lindo, Paul Rudd, Michael Caine
Director: Lasse Hallstrom
Running Time: 126 mins
In a 1930's orphanage, St Cloud's, in the Maine countryside, institution head, Dr Wilbur Larch (Michael Caine) raised a twice adopted and twice returned child, Homer wells (Tobey Maguire) and trained him as a doctor.

Helping out in the home, Homer cares for unwanted children and delivers unwanted babies, but his morals stop him from helping Larch perform the illegal abortions he regularly offers.
Despite the illegality of his actions, Larch takes the position that it is a woman's right to choose and that by performing the operations he is saving many women from being butchered by back street abortionists.

Into the story come a young air-force pilot, Wally Worthington (Paul Rudd), and his pregnant girlfriend, Candy (Charlize Theron). Candy wants an abortion and Homer decides to leave with them to travel and see the world, but unfortunately doesn't even get to leave the State
Working in Candy's family's orchard and brewery Homer starts to fall in love with Candy whilst Wally is away at war.
Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom ('What's Eating Gilbert Grape'), steers this adaptation of American novelist, John Irving's, novel (for which Irving wrote the screenplay himself) along in a kind of melancholy and restrained way but manages to avoid too much sentimentality. Indeed the subplot concerning young orchard worker Rose (Erykah Badu), who is pregnant by her father (Delroy Lindo), the return of Wally in a wheelchair and the death of Larch are far from sentimental.

The Players, especially Caine, are superb and here at unreel we are confident that 'The Cider House Rules' will provide Michael with his second Oscar.
By Clayton Everett