Writer and director Todd Haynes loves the past. His "Velvet Goldmine" was a paean to 1970s glam rock stars and now the seemingly idyllic world of 1950s America is captured in the cartoonish "Far From Heaven," starring Julianne Moore and Dennis Quaid.

Sterile and full of forced smiles, the world of "Far From Heaven" is comfortable, safe and without controversy. Or is it? Hartford, Connecticut, 1957... Cathy Whitaker (Moore) and her husband Frank (Quaid) have a lovely home on a leafy green street, two adorable children, countless friends, a maid, a gardener and, clearly, a healthy salary from Frank's job as a successful sales executive at a local TV manufacturing firm.

Cathy is preparing for a big party with her friend Eleanor (Patricia Clarkson) and continues to host the ladies for lunch on a regular basis. But is everything as happy as it looks? Cathy isn't sure why Frank appears to be growing distant. He's working late and seems to lack a sexual appetite.

When she brings Frank dinner one night at the office, she walks in to find him kissing another man and her world falls apart. But not completely. That happens after she begins to confide in and strike up a friendship with her African-American gardener Raymond Deagan (Dennis Haysbert), a widower with a young daughter. Even her best friend -- who pities Cathy's suffering when she learns Frank is gay -- immediately turns on her when she suspects something is happening between Cathy and Raymond.

Soon, the town is abuzz with gossip about Cathy and Raymond and Haynes shows us that 1957 New England could be just as racist a place as 1957 Mobile, Alabama. But how will Frank react, when he's got problems of his own. He's busy visiting a doctor, trying to "cure" himself of his homosexual desires. Will it work?

Clearly Haynes is showing us that for all of the apparent happiness, success and progress of 1950s America, we had a long way to go in understanding and acceptance.

But "Far From Heaven" isn't just a morality play. It's also an exercise in finely detailed tribute to a genre: the melodramic soap opera-style work of Douglas Sirk, director of "All That Heaven Allows."

"Far From Heaven" is beautiful to look at -- and sometimes makes us laugh -- and Julianne Moore and Dennis Haysbert serve up masterful performances. So why, in the end, don't we really care about any of these people? Is it because we feel superior, thinking we're much more accepting? Is it because the mannered acting of Dennis Quaid and some of the other characters sucks the life from the story?

Maybe it's that "Far From Heaven" has a lot of style and a good message, but in the end, feels a little trite and simplistic. Although I'd normally suggest renting a film like this, I do recommend you see in a theater, because it looks lovely on the big screen.

"Far From Heaven" opens Fri., Nov. 22 at Landmark's Oriental Theatre.