Coppola's 'Virgin Suicides' is all style, no structure

There's no denying Sofia Coppola has inherited the visual panache, style and eye of her much nominated, Oscar-winning dad, maverick filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola.

"The Virgin Suicides," her first feature film after a spate of photographic assignments for such publications as Interview, Paris Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, is based upon the celebrated, 1993 cult-status novel by Jeffrey Eugenides. Predictably, the film is full of breathtaking cinematic allusions.

But while young Coppola is a pro with her camera, she'd be wise to brush up on her storytelling skills.

"The Virgin Suicides" divides audiences by gender. That's a tricky hoop to jump through for a new director. The story is told from the point of view of a group of Detroit-suburb boys who lust after the unattainable Lisbon sisters in the sexually confused 1970s.

MOVIE REVIEW
The Virgin Suicides. Directed and written by Sofia Coppola. Cast: James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartnett, Scott Glenn. Paramount Classics. 97 minutes. Broadway Market, Metro. Rated R for sexual content.
Grade: C+

While the boys narrate this enigmatic story of youth and the feminine mystique, Coppola can't pull all the subtext and pieces together. It may be that the Lisbon sisters and the quirkiness of the story defy a cogent cinematic structure. However, there is an allure to the film that provides a unique look at growing up female in a religious, repressed home.

Nothing is the same for the Lisbons after the suicide of the brood's youngest. In the aftermath, the remaining sisters bond like an impenetrable fortress, rebuffing the scorn and suspicion of the neighborhood. They even find ways to fight the constrictive rules of their parents and ultimately find, the film suggests, liberation from the societal constraints and mores that bind young women to a sexual double standard.

Even sturdy performances by a restrained James Woods as math-teacher dad, Kathleen Turner as the earnest, strict mom, are lost in a movie that barely explains the motivation for any of the actions.

"The Virgin Suicides" is a wisp that sometimes makes the viewer gasp with its breathy beauty. But it settles for platitudes, stereotypes and wish-fulfillment to fill in the gaps and, in its awkward way, winds up mirroring the sentiments of the boys who adore these wayward girls and who tell us in voiceover, "They knew everything about us and we couldn't fathom them at all."