The Substance of Fire
The Substance of Fire

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- 61/100 based on 661 votes

Isaac Geldhart is a Holocaust survivor who, overcome by grief at the recent death of his wife, seems determined to run his publishing firm into the ground by printing books that have no hope of financial success. His son Aaron, who also works at the company, grows frustrated with Isaac's emotional decline and attempts to take over the firm. The resulting crisis involves Isaac's other two children, his daughter Sarah and his dying son Martin.... (Full plot summary below)

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Actors in The Substance of Fire:

Tony Goldwyn
Timothy Hutton
Ron Rifkin
Sarah Jessica Parker
Lee Grant
Elizabeth Franz

Full Plot Details

Isaac Geldhart is a Holocaust survivor who, overcome by grief at the recent death of his wife, seems determined to run his publishing firm into the ground by printing books that have no hope of financial success. His son Aaron, who also works at the company, grows frustrated with Isaac's emotional decline and attempts to take over the firm. The resulting crisis involves Isaac's other two children, his daughter Sarah and his dying son Martin.

Review & Comments

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Movie Reviews

Reel Film Reviews - 8/10 by David NusairThe actors are all fantastic in their roles, especially [Ron] Rifkin.
Spirituality and Practice - 4/10 by Frederic and Mary Ann BrussatSuggests that there is no family wound that cannot be healed by love and forgiveness.
User Review - 8/10 by Lane WImpeccable and riveting. Jon Robin Baitz is a phenomenal writer. Wonderful performances and direction.
User Review - 6/10 by Ashley HThe Substance of Fire is a decent film. It is about a publishing magnate who refuses to publish a book by his son's male lover so the kids buy out their father and run it themselves! Tony Goldwyn and Timmy Hutton give good performances. The screenplay is a little slow in places. Daniel J. Sullivan did an alright job directing this movie. I liked this motion picture because of the drama.
User Review - 6/10 by Lee MSome nice performances help cut through the gooey histrionics to make the film somewhat worthwhile.
User Review - 6/10 by Christine BThis film is very well acted, beautifully written and riveting to watch. Ron Rifkin is superb as Isaac Geldhart and Timothy Hutton will break your heart with his subtle performance. It was a pleasure to discover an 11 year old film that I've never seen before and remember what Timothy Hutton and Gil Bellows looked like back then...faces to fall in love with.
User Review - 4/10 by David DSubstance of Fire has very little substance or fire. Hutton continued the downward movement of his career while Sarah Jessica Parker hadn't quite gotten the uplift in hers.
User Review - 4/10 by jake3_14 VThe Substance of Fire attempts to echo Shakespeare's King Lear, where a domineering king faces the rebellion of his children and goes mad in the process. In addition, the movie tries to explore other significant themes: survivor's guilt, The pain that a Holocaust-damaged father visits on his children, and generational family rifts. That's a lot to cover in 100 minutes, and sadly, the movie never successfully explores any of these ideas. For instance, while it's certainly plausible that Geldhart would be interested in publishing books that focus on the impact of 20th-century genocides, the movie never builds up any sympathy for Geldhart's cause. You never learn about how what impact his efforts have had over the years, from readers, peers, academics, or even friends in the publishing business. While a play can gloss over this backstory because of the immediacy of its impact on a live audience, a movie requires more explicit backstory. So, when his children turn on him, and when he descends into madness, there's little reason to care. Likewise, there's zero justification for Geldhart's adult kids despising him -- not one example by any character about how he was such a bad parent. Again, with the immediate transmission of emotions in a theater, the intensity of the performance can carry some of the load of exposition, but a film needs more spelled out. Finally, the self-destruction by the youngest son, Martin, makes no sense at all. Why would a man, ill-treated by his father, and in remission from an illness that requires him to avoid stress, volunteer to take over this ailing father's personal affairs, and thus stimulate his disease? If Martin were prone to depression and suicidality, this decision would have been understandable. But you get no hint of this prior to the Martin's ill-fated decision. As a result, you keep puzzling over this when you should be getting involved in the growing bond between Martin and his dad.
User Review - 2/10 by Scott SWhat a piece of crap and it takes a lot for me to rate a movie this low. I like the writing of Jon Robin Baitz (big fan of Brothers and Sisters) and I am a fan of many of the fine actors in this movie but there was no theme and one of the worst endings of any movie I've seen in a long time. Do NOT waste your time.

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