| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| BaftaBaby |
Posted - 03/12/2010 : 14:04:35
Egyptian-Canadian Atom Egoyan made one of the best crypto-thrillers spiced with an interesting angle of misread/ignored sexual signals. Where the Truth Lies, starring Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth as a Martin & Lewis double act who get involved way over their heads in a murder, evinced Egoyan's directorial skill.
I mention all this because having set and maintained high filmic standards since the 1970s and consistently exploring themes of sex, lust, intellect, and emotion - his latest film Chloe really amounts to little more than the dribbly bits at the bottom of the condom.
Some of it's only a notch above soft porn, but presented with the pretentions of an exploration of human relationships within long-term marriage. So by the needlessly hysterical ending, it just seems like an excuse to get some girl-on-girl action onto the screen.
The girls in this case are Julienne Moore as gynaecologist Catherine, mom of classical music student Michael [Max Thieriot in a believable portrait of an emotionally confused teenager] and wife of Liam Neeson as David, a university professor.
The other girl is Amanda Seyfried as the eponymous Chloe, whom we first meet in a voice-over narration as she gets dressed in some sexy underwear for her job as a call girl.
It's when the prof, away on a lecture, misses his flight and the surprise party Catherine has thrown for him, that she - all smiles and sweet understanding on the outside - succumbs to her repressed jealousy and takes advantage of what appears to be an accidental encounter with Chloe.
I say appears to be accidental, because as events progress we get stronger and stronger hints that Chloe may have chosen to meet Catherine. Whatever - Catherine hires Chloe as a honey-pot to tempt David, thereby confirming her theory he's been cheating on her.
What happens next is what drives the plot, which, sadly becomes too ridiculously tangled to overcome the flaws of the premise.
It's not that it couldn't happen, but it's just so unlikely given who these people are supposed to be. Well, the couple anyway. We never really know who Chloe's supposed to be, and for someone who carries the film's title, that's a pretense this film doesn't deserve. It might work for one of those mindless thrill-less thrillers. But Egoyan has set up something intriguing which begins to disappoint from the start.
It should be Hitchcock. But it's just cock, in manner of speaking.
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| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| rabid kazook |
Posted - 05/04/2010 : 11:37:33
Mmmmmm Egoyan, he was fantastic in the 90s.
Now I've seen bits of Where the Truth Lies and I kind of found it to be rather lackluster. Don't know..
Now similar movies I did enjoy were the sublime eroticly charged French little movies that were releases throughout the 2000s (they made a lot in the 90s, 80, 70s too though)... |
| Demisemicenturian |
Posted - 03/25/2010 : 20:24:16
Chloe
quote:
Originally posted by BaftaBabe
Julienne
It's Julianne.
I largely agree with your thoughts, though. Perhaps not to quite the same degree, but the film does lack substance. The scene at the end seems almost entirely random and once one sees it looming that she has made it all up, the air leaks out of the balloon, or the inflated condom perhaps.
I thought all three leads gave good performances, though. I like Moore and Neeson in just about everything.
3/5 |
| ChocolateLady |
Posted - 03/13/2010 : 10:54:48
Too bad. I love Julienne Moore. |
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