Debut director Tom Ford's film, A Single Man, is an intensely personal story, one that must've had some sort of special significance. Colin Firth stars as a man on the brink, a homosexual man named George living in the 1960's during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He's just lost the love of his life to a freak accident, and has been maintaining a silent vigil ever since, barely making it through each day. This story follows him through the defining day of his life, where he's finally decided to put an end to his misery. The film makes no secret about George's intentions to end his own life.
George is an intensely private man. He has to be, given the social climate of the time. He puts on a brave, stoic face of cool detatchment. He teaches at a high school, often on the subject of fear, a theme which sits ominously in the background throughout. In what is likely to be his last day on earth, George is taking note of the people in his life that mattered. He meets with his longtime best friend, Charley(Julianne Moore), a boozehound who has loved George since they were young. They had a fling once. She's held on to that ever since. But also, George has started to take stock of his true feelings, rather than keeping everything tucked away inside. He meets a young, Spanish James Dean looking fellow, who clearly has George in his sights. But then there's Kenny, an idyllic, bronzen god of a boy, whom George is feeling an inexplicable attachment to.
Colin Firth is superb as the heartbroken George. He carries the burden with remarkable restraint where another actor easily could've taken it overboard. In what I think is the defining scene, when George is informed of his lover's death by a family member, Firth holds on to George's facade of resolve just long enough, before slowly letting go and letting the anguish rush in. It's the film's most powerful moment. The performances by Firth and Moore are astonishing. The look of the film, which is bathed in a sortof technicolor sheen that is absolutely beautiful, will no doubt garner Oscar consideration in and of itself. Tom Ford, who is also a famous fashion designer, knows how to make both the characters and the setting pop with pazazz. Julianne Moore, in particular, never looked so glamorous.
My biggest problem with the film is the script, which does nobody any favors. This is George's last chance to connect with the world before he finally leaves it for good, and yet I didn't feel like most of the conversations worked the way they were intended. His scene with Charley, where they hash out their relationship and indulge in loud music and too much alcohol, works on every level. It's when George meets Kenny, who is supposed to be his lifeline, or potential saving grace, that it falls flat. They don't connect on any level, and to me it came off as little more than a lecherous old man trying to take advantage of his student. I don't think that was the intention.
For a debut, this is an impressive start for Tom Ford. I'm not sure how many other movies he'll do, but I'm anxious to see where his career could go. He has the look down, and the ability to let his actors breathe a little bit. I won't give away the ending, mainly because it took me completely by surprise. Yet it was also appropriate for a short, slice of life film like this.
7/10
Daybreakers
Daybreakers couldn't be more boring if it tried, and sometimes I thought it might actually have been trying. It's the not too distant future, and the majority of the population has been infected by the most dull case of vampirism ever. Not sure how it happened, but there it is. Only a few humans remain. Most have been captured and are being used as a global blood supply, housed like cattle. The problem is that the blood is running out as the human population dwindles. Sam Neil, who I can't remember in anything past Jurassic Park, plays the head of a corporation looking to create a blood substitute. Ethan Hawke, who's emotionless distant stares lends perfect to the casual vampire demeanor, plays Edward, a hemotologist looking for a cure rather than a substitute. He's the vampire with a heart of gold. He wants to be human again.
Vampire society is horribly mundane.They put blood in everything. Blood in the coffee...and I'm assuming those are blood cigarettes Edward is smoking. Political pundits still duke it out on cable news outlets arguing for...I'm not sure what. What do vampires argue about? Oh, about the subsiders, the vamps who go without blood too long. They turn into vicious mutants who hang out in sewers. They don't figure into the equation much, so don't worry about it. Edward stumbles across a human underground resistance, led by a former vampire named Elvis(Willem Defoe). He's managed to cure himself and become human again, and he wants Ed's help to do the same for everybody.
You'd think that the introduction of a crossbow wielding Willem Defoe would give this film a much needed shot of adrenaline, and yet you'd be dead wrong. This is a January action film at it's worst, with a premise too big for the screenwriters to fully adapt. The idea of a vampie society crumbling under it's own weight is a great one, flush with promise, but directors The Spierig Brothers never seem to know which way to take it. Is it social commentary or action flick, yet they can't figure out a way to combine the two in any meaningful way. What's the purpose of introducing Sam Neil's daughter into the film in the final act? Or the vampire senator? Can Ethan Hawke act with any less enthusiasm? I know it's a world full of the undead but he ain't at a friggin' funeral! Even Willem Defoe seemed to be phoning it in, probably because he isn't given much to do lounge around and watch Ethan Hawke undersell every line.
Not worth wasting your time on.
5/10
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