TIFF: Loss of a Teardrop Diamond

The fragrant aroma of magnolias is undercut by the distinct smell of mothballs throughout The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (with Bryce Dallas Howard, above) an admirably earnest but curiously flat attempt to film a long-unproduced scenario by Tennessee Williams. Although Williams wrote the original script specifically for the screen decades ago, the final product comes across as ploddingly stagebound under the sympathetic but literal-minded direction of actress-turned-director Jodie Markell. Resembling nothing so much as a lesser American Playhouse TV-movie of the mid-1980s, this indie drama likely will be consigned to cable and public televsion venues.

Maybe it might have worked out better had Lindsay Lohan not walked away from the project? Who knows? In any event, you can read my full Variety review here.