Dennis Haysbert as Raymond Deagan in Far From Heaven (2002)

Dennis Haysbert as Raymond Deagan in Far From Heaven (2002)

Vitals

Dennis Haysbert as Raymond Deagan, affable gardener and widowed father

Suburban Connecticut, Fall 1957 into Winter 1958

Film: Far From Heaven
Release Date: November 8, 2002
Director: Todd Haynes
Costume Designer: Sandy Powell

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Todd Haynes' 1950s-set Far From Heaven paid homage to Douglas Sirk's visually stunning mid-century melodramas like All That Heaven AllowsImitation of LifeMagnificent Obsession, and Written on the Wind, addressing themes of love, class, and race, often against stunningly idyllic autumnal backdrops that belie the intense personal dramas beyond those white picket fences and manicured lawns.

After years of semi-satisfied suburban life, well-to-do housewife Cathy Whitaker (Julianne Moore) finds herself in a maelstrom of conflict after discovering her husband's homosexuality as well as her own feelings for Raymond Deagan (Dennis Haysbert), the son of her family's late gardener whose race has her "friends" and neighbors clutching their proverbial pearls in reaction to the developing relationship between the two. Read more of this post