The Passion of Ayn Rand (1999)

80% of critics liked it
(5 reviews)
52% of users liked it
(536 ratings)

The private life of celebrated author and philosopher Ayn Rand takes center stage in this film produced for the Showtime cable network. In 1951, Ayn Rand (Helen Mirren) is a best-selling author and celebrated thinker when she meets Nathaniel Branden (Eric Stoltz) and his friend Barbara (Julie… More The private life of celebrated author and philosopher Ayn Rand takes center stage in this film produced for the Showtime cable network. In 1951, Ayn Rand (Helen Mirren) is a best-selling author and celebrated thinker when she meets Nathaniel Branden (Eric Stoltz) and his friend Barbara (Julie Delpy), two college students who admire her writing and ideas. Rand takes the students under her wing, but before long her mentoring becomes less benevolent and more abusive. She badgers Barbara and Nathaniel, who were never more than close friends, into marrying, and while Nathaniel responds well to Rand's tutelage, Barbara begins to shrink from Rand's lack of compassion, which Rand sees as weakness. Things become more uncomfortable when, after Barbara and Nathaniel join Ayn and her often-ignored husband Frank O'Connor (Peter Fonda) on a vacation, Ayn and Nathaniel demand "permission" to have an affair, which they feel is dictated by the importance of their work. Based on Barbara Branden's autobiography about her years with Rand, The Passion Of Ayn Rand was premiered at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 44 min.
Directed By: Christopher Menaul
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Dec 31, 1999 Wide
On DVD: Feb 20, 2001
Studio: Showtime Networks Inc.

Critic Reviews

Dan Lybarger, Nitrate Online
Solidly acted if melodramatic film about the philosopher.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Alice S

The best performance of Julie Delpy's I've seen to date. Story is awkwardly paced and paints Ayn in a crazy light. Which I guess was true but Helen Mirren didn't really bring ANY redeeming quality out.
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]"The Passion of Ayn Rand" starts in 1951 Los Angeles as political philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand, nee Alisa Rosenbaum(Helen Mirren), gives an audience to two young acolytes, Nathaniel(Eric Stoltz) and Barbara(Julie Delpy). Soon, they are accepted… More
[font=Century Gothic]"The Passion of Ayn Rand" starts in 1951 Los Angeles as political philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand, nee Alisa Rosenbaum(Helen Mirren), gives an audience to two young acolytes, Nathaniel(Eric Stoltz) and Barbara(Julie Delpy). Soon, they are accepted into her inner circle before marrying and moving to New York. But Rand soon comes to miss them, and decides to move cross country along with her long suffering husband, Frank(Peter Fonda), to complete her long gestating novel, "Atlas Shrugged."[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]"The Passion of Ayn Rand"(I'm wondering if the title is supposed to have a double meaning...) is an interesting look at the life of Ayn Rand whose philosophy was one of fully embracing self-interest and capitalism. The movie has a special emphasis on her personal life, especially an extramarital affair. Normally, I would not favor this approach towards an historical figure, but here it succeeds as a case study of her philosophy. Her and Nathaniel think only of themselves, inflicting a great deal of psychic damage on their loving spouses. And that's exactly what acting only in a person's self-interest does to society at large.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]Note: Eric Stoltz and Julie Delpy were also in "Killing Zoe." [/font]
Sunil J

I was interested in Ayn Rand but I did NOT like this movie. It was really boring and tried to be all of these different things.
Leo L

Great!