This movie seem similar to the Woody Allen film Match Film with these exceptions.
1. The adulterous man kills his lover, not his wife.
2. He's killing his lover for his own sake, rather than someone elses.
Am I being naive, or does it seem similar. I stil want to see it, but I thought Match Point was a good movie and that they should make another one.
Esspecially one without Jonathan Rhys Meyers. ;]
It's nothing like Match Point, but I think I would have appreciated Married Life more if Woody Allen had adapted and directed it.
shareYou did mention him in another thread and I forgot to follow that up.
In what way would Woody have made it better? (Would Woody sounds funny!) Is it his experience as a director, his style?
The direction is the core of the problem with Married Life, isn't it?
"In what way would Woody have made it better? Is it his experience as a director, his style?
I think he's now proven conclusively that he can write and direct sly satire, film noir, and Bergmanesque dramas involving... well, married life. This would have been an amazing project for him.
Mick's review just came out. He quite liked it. Thought it was intentionally strange and distant.
shareHere's the link for those who are interested:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/13/DDK6VIJ3V. DTL&feed=rss.entertainment
Yes, I see. He liked everyone!
I love his reviews. He's always something interesting to offer. Even when he's reviewing a bad film, he makes reading the review a positive experience. He's really clever and makes me laugh! I even like his blog.
You're right, he's not lazy about his reviews. Case in point, his appreciative take on Rachel's characterization of Kay -
"As the wife, Clarkson has the least defined role, in the sense that it's the least specifically written. But Clarkson herself is so distinct by now, with her mix of ruefulness and good humor, regret and acceptance, that a character emerges. But a more impressive creation is the young lover, in that Sachs devises a 25-year-old woman who conceivably might be attracted to a scowling, middle-aged business executive. He gives her a past, and McAdams inhabits that past. It's a presence in all her interactions and makes the character older than her years. It also enables her to deal as an equal even with a jaded smooth operator like her lover's best friend, played by Brosnan an aging roue, oily yet vulnerable."
Even when there's praise, there's been a lot of 'McAdams makes the best of thin material' or that she's got the right look, but I haven't really seen a review where the praise goes deeper than that. I like that he actually has something constructive to say about the performance.
"He gives her a past, and McAdams inhabits that past. It's a presence in all her interactions and makes the character older than her years."
That's about as perceptive as it gets in a movie review (as opposed to a full-blown critique) -- and also as good as it gets for an actor who's as intellectual in the way she develops her characterizations as Rachel. I hope she sees it, because it's a major, major compliment.
That's an interesting point. Yeah, I gather that she prepares quite vigorously . . . takes the intellectual side of preparation as far as she can take it. The fascinating thing is how she's able to sort of transform all that into a raw, breathing, fully-inhabited performance. I like what Ira Sachs says about her again and again, that there's always something going on beneath the surface. There's this river of life underneath the skin, it's palpable. She able to project this complicated interiority effortlessly. And yet it's not just an indiscriminate sort of unleashing of emotions, but extremely precise and controlled. Without seeming controlled. That's the trick, isn't it?
shareYou betcha. And that isn't easy -- particularly in films, where you're usually shooting scenes out of sequence.
share"Even when he's reviewing a bad film, he makes reading the review a positive experience."
I often disagree with him, but I always love his reviews. Such a good writer.
"He liked everyone!"
Kind of. As regards Cooper and Clarkson, I'm more inclined to agree with Ty urr of the Boston Globe -
"...but Cooper never convincingly finds Harry's pulse, and the gifted Clarkson is stranded in a role that barely makes sense."
http://www.boston.com/movies/display?display=movie&id=11364
I didn't think of the movie match point but halfway through this film.
I thought to myself. it has a woody allen feel to this movie and thought maybe it was one of his movies??