Is Tom Guthrie, played by Aidan Quinn, the central character?
In many ways, yes. It’s the classic Gary Cooper role, full of quiet dignity. It’s an interior landscape for Tom Guthrie, who’s unmoored, whose wife has left him. But because he has custody of the two young boys, because they live in this small town, because he’s a fairly public figure–teaching in the local school–everything has to be internalized. Tom can’t reveal how wounded he is to his boys. He has to carry on some semblance of normalcy for their sake. He encounters so much adversity; he has to be the epitome of quiet resilience. Finally, of course, he explodes. I think Aidan understood the complexity of this character from the beginning, and I think he plays it brilliantly. What about Rachel Griffiths’ Maggie? As an actor, she too has to make very quiet, subtle choices. Maggie’s spent years taking care of her ill father. She’s been wounded by a broken marriage. She’s attracted to Tom, yet understands that he’s ten thousand miles away from making any kind of commitment vis–vis an
