The Human Stain is an adaptation of a book by American author Nicholas Meyer and strives to tell the life story of Coleman Silk a noted Jewish college professor. Silk resigns from his post when he is accused (unjustly) of racism. His life then takes a far more dramatic turn when his wife dies as a result of the shock of it all.

Silk then forms two relationships that change his life. One is with a writer, Zuckerman (Gary Sinise) who has holed himself up in a house in the woods after a cancer scare. The second being with Faunia Farley (Kidman) a cleaner/milkmaid who is running away from an abusive husband (Ed Harris) after the death of their two children.

Through a series of flashbacks we build up the back story of Coleman. We see him as a bullish young man in the 1950s with his first love, the beautiful Steena (Jacinda Barrett) We observe as their relationship builds, but we know they have split up for some reason as we have already seen his wife, but we do not find out the monumental reasoning of this breakup and how it changed Coleman's life, until later in the film.

Back in the films present day, Coleman begins an affair with Faunia for which he receives grief from her ex husband as well as disparaging regard from the townsfolk; she is much younger and (wrongly) considered trailer trash compared to his lofty intellectual standing.

As the movie progresses the plot twists from here to there, moving slowly but surely as we delve deeper into the lives of the protagonists, revealing more and more about their back story. Strangely we discover that Coleman is not Jewish at all, we are told that his parents, brother and sister are all black, and that Coleman - fed up with all of the racism he receives in the 1950s - has managed to pass himself off as a Jew.

We discover that the reasoning behind this is his break up with Steena. He did not tell her of his background and she believed he was Jewish. On meeting his mother and discovering his secret she dumps Coleman and he is left devastated. After losing Steena, Coleman estranges himself from his family completely. He meets his future wife Iris and decides not to tell her his secret; she never knew of his background all the way to her grave. He never again sees his family and pretends they are dead, ignoring his roots as an African American and pretending to be Jewish.

Obviously there are problems of plausibility that many will, no doubt, have a tough time getting around. Hopkins can barely pass for Welsh, let alone black, and had there been a scene depicting Coleman undergoing some sort of skin-bleaching it may have been a bit more palatable. You would think that a more swarthy-skinned actor would have been a far more logical choice? But then to counter that you have the brilliance that is Hopkins and his total ability to hold the screen with such tenacity that you dare not look away. His performance makes you forget about a few logistical wholes.

It also seems that if any other actors besides Hopkins and Kidman would have played these roles, it would have caused the romance between the two leads to seem vulgar and cheap. These two giants of the screen turn this odd coupling into a touching, sentimental meeting of two lonely souls. This is not a mid-life crisis affair like films like American Beauty or Lolita; this is two lonely people finally finding something in the other that they have been searching for all their lives.

Again Kidman delivers a powerful, superb performance as she has done in many films recently. Similar to her turn in Birthday Girl, this is a character that most Hollywood A-list women would have stayed away from. Faunia has had her fair share of troubles in her life as well, abused by her step father she ran away from her rich Mother's house. She then marries the unfortunate Lester Farley. Ed Harris gives a masterful performance here as a troubled Vietnam vet, who becomes abusive. She clings to Harris however until a house fire kills both of their children, and Lester blames her for it.

Through their affair Faunia and Coleman find something in each other that they could not find anywhere else. Coleman tells the first person in 50 years that his family are actually black, a fact that he kept from his deceased wife. Faunia finds trust, at the start of their relationship she will not stay overnight with Coleman, she will only have sex with him.

She tells him, "Don't complicate things by falling in love with me." Because of what has happened to her in her life she puts up walls against loving anyone, and only after several arguments and a long time does Coleman manage to break down her defenses.

This film is compelling drama to watch. All of the actors deliver some of their best ever performances. Director Robert Benton shows the class which has won him 3 Oscars for such films as Bonnie and Clyde and Kramer Vs Kramer, and must be credited for bringing a tender, heart wrenching story to the screen.

This review was furnished by our mates at <a href="http://thehollwoodnews.com">thehollywoodnews.com</a>