Josephine Hart's first novel,
Damage -- a sexual confessional told in the voice of a British politician in thrall to his son's fiancTe -- stirred up a literary fuss in 1991. What
Time praised as Hart's "fastidious language,"
Newsweek slagged as "heavy breathing." Expect the same love-hate reaction to this faithful film version, beautifully directed by Louis Malle from a script by David Hare (
Plenty). No harm should come from the NC-17 rating ruckus. It's just another "yikes, a penis!"