THE CRUCIBLE
Winona Ryder plays a sexually frustrated young 
housegirl in this ultra chic and groovy meditation 
of McCarthyism and teen hysteria rocking 16th 
century Salem. She's got the hots for Daniel Day 
Lewis, a punk-rock style farmer who wears all 
black and dresses only about a million times 
hipper than the rest of the cast. The rest of 
the cast is comprised of weak chinned old 
character actors you've seen in a million other 
films and never really liked. 

That aside, there's huge emoting, HUGE! and tension 
and suspense spread on with a trowel during the 
court room scenes. Plus, Winona gets to ham it up 
to her heart's content and she relishes the chance. 
For the first time in her career her character is 
completely unsympathetic, evil, and if you're a 
Winona fan you'll be squirming with delight as she 
delivers her menace-laden lines or comes onto Daniel 
Day Lewis with her bosoms heaving. 

Eventually it becomes hard to stick with this movie, 
simply because the injustice and wrong-doing in the 
court scenes is so frustrating. Arthur Miller's 
morality and desire to get us all uptight in 
righteous indignation is honorable, but he's an 
old stodgy white man and it shows with his contempt 
for Winona and her sistren. By the end you may find 
yourself fast forwarding through the heavy handed 
piety. B