Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

The Substance of Fire
1996
**½
Director: Daniel Sullivan
Cast: Ron Rifkin, Timothy Hutton, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tony Goldwyn

A Jewish publisher loses his grip on reality and is about to commit a commercial suicide by publishing a massive opus on Nazi medical experiments. The film starts well and Ron Rifkin gives a strong performance, but the story falls spart when it begins to focus on his three adult children. This is an adaptation of Jon Robin Baitz's stage play, but that is no excuse for such a visually substandard film.