Good help truly is hard to find, especially when said help is trying to murder you. The Hand that Rocks the Cradle is self-aware in how it is a bit absurd, almost camp. However, it has a strong performance that makes it delicious watching.
Seattle mother Claire Bartel is expecting her second child. Her regular obstetrician/gynecologist is temporarily unavailable, so she goes with Dr. Victor Mott (John de Lancie). Dr. Mott, who was referred to her by her regular doctor, seems pleasant enough, but he insists on examining her breasts as well. He then fondles her private part, leaving Claire in shock. That in turn causes her to have an asthma attack. Taking the advice of her husband Michael (Matt McCoy), she reports Dr. Mott to the medical board. That in turn causes four other women to report their own encounters with the bad doctor. The ensuing scandal drives Dr. Mott to suicide. His widow, who is also pregnant at this time, is doubly shocked when she discovers that she will have no money after Mott's death. This causes her to suffer a miscarriage that in turn leaves her incapable of having children.
Six months later, Claire and Michael are the parents of a beautiful baby boy named James. Claire and Michael, as well as their daughter Emma (Madeline Zima) are delighted by Jim. Also delighted is their mentally disabled handyman, Solomon (Ernie Hudson). He has been with them via the Better Day Society since Claire was sexually molested, having started with a fence and now working around the house. While Michael works and Claire volunteers at a local greenhouse, Claire is finding the burden of the second child hard. With that, the Bartels decide to hire a nanny.
One seems to appear out of nowhere. She is Peyton Flanders (Rebecca De Mornay), who tells them that she is a recent widow who lost her child. Peyton is not technically lying, for she is in reality none other than the Widow Mott. Despite being the only one of Dr. Mott's accusers who did not sue him or the estate, Peyton holds Claire Bartel responsible for all her miseries.
Now, she will enact her slow revenge on Claire. That revenge includes getting James to depend on Peyton's breastmilk, slowly worming herself into Emma's heart, and planting evidence suggesting that Solomon has been sexually abusing Emma. It also includes putting seeds of doubt into Claire's mind about whether Michael has moved his longtime friendship to former girlfriend Michelle (Julianne Moore) to a new position of mistress.
Slowly, Peyton increases her actions against the Bartels. Soon both Michelle and Claire realize not just who Peyton is but the danger she poses. That knowledge comes at the expense of one of their lives, but now we see whether Peyton will complete her master plan or be done in by it.
Emma, to my knowledge, was never asked directly or specifically if Solomon ever did anything to her. Moreover, given that Claire was a stay-at-home mom, she would have been surprisingly oblivious to any tawdry business going on with Solomon.
As a side note, I wonder if Amanda Silver's screenplay chose the name "Solomon" for our mentally challenged character as an ironic take on "the wisdom of Solomon". Perhaps that is giving The Hand that Rocks the Cradle too much credit.
I want to give The Hand that Rocks the Cradle credit for being enjoyably goofy. One does not watch something like The Hand that Rocks the Cradle for its plot. One watches for fun thrills within its premise. One of the major thrills is Rebecca De Mornay. Long before the term was created, De Mornay clearly understood the assignment. She is deliciously cool and wicked in The Hand that Rocks the Cradle. She fully embraced the cray-cray of the character. She maintains a soft, patrician manner where one can see initially how the Bartels were duped into taking her on. When she does let out her evil side be it bullying a child or slapping Solomon around, we see De Mornay tearing into Peyton's evil with quiet relish.
She even thrown in a few f-bombs into these moments, almost as if to punctuate Peyton's wickedness. Rebecca De Mornay is the major reason to watch The Hand that Rocks the Cradle because she makes no apologies for Peyton's total lunacy and thirst for revenge. She couches it with an outward coolness and sweetness that screams out insincerity.
To be fair, Madeline Zima was winning and charming and believable as Emma, the little girl slowly lured to forgo her own mother for Peyton.
Still, there was only so much that De Mornay, Moore, Zima or any of the other actors could do with the material that they were given. Matt McCoy was genially attractive as Michael. He even managed to get an obligatory shirtless scene when Peyton misguidedly attempts to seduce him. However, McCoy was rather flat as Michael. He seemed if not comatose at least quite disengaged with things. When Peyton is finally exposed (again, I wonder how no one knew who she was to start with), Peyton attempts to turn it to her favor by saying that Michael said that there was only one woman for him.
"I was referring to my wife", he tells her with very little emotion.
I think the second worst performance was that of Annabella Sciorra. Her reaction to finding Michelle's body was not good. It was actually pretty laughable. Her various asthma attacks were equally unintentionally amusing. At one point, she keels over in a mix of a panic and asthma attack. The whole thing had me chuckling, which I do not think was the intent. Claire is perhaps one of the dumbest characters that I have seen recently. She makes a point to mention earlier that Michael smokes only when he is around Michelle. Yet, for some reason, she cannot quite piece together why Michael's coat smells like smoke.
When she confronts him about her suspicions that he is "f--ing" Michelle, Michael tells her that everyone can hear. The acting from both Sciorra and McCoy is so flat that it feels more like a line reading than a genuine scene. The muted reaction from the guests at her surprise party is equally muted. It was a bit hard to know if they were embarrassed at the situation or for having to try and act as poorly as Sciorra and McCoy. To be fair, when she punches Peyton out, it is a great punch.
As a side note, Michael. Michelle. What a jumble of names.
The worst performance however was from the usually reliable Ernie Hudson. I think that he did the absolute best that he could with Solomon. However, right from the start, Hudson was trying too hard at playing someone with diminished mental capacities. Putting aside for the moment how that portrayal probably would meet with controversy today, it was just bad. The little body tics, the attempt at halting delivery, all of that screamed out that he was ACTING. I think it would have been better if he had not been made mentally disabled.
I think director Curtis Hanson should get some credit for keeping things rolling even when things went way over the top. In some ways, I think Hanson was right in having his actors not try to be smarter than the material. He succeeded with everyone save Moore and De Mornay. Curiously enough, they along with Zima were the good performances.
The Hand that Rocks the Cradle is openly schlocky. However, I find that to be one of its main qualities. Whether by pumping up the music as Peyton holds a pillow near James' head or suggesting that chocolate is a substitute for sex, the film embraced its delicious campiness. It is silly and illogical (how Claire discovers who Peyton really is borders on a series of implausible happenstances). Still, I enjoy how silly The Hand that Rocks the Cradle is. Rebecca De Mornay is the show, and worth the price of admission.
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