The combination of Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst, and Oscar Isaac should be enough to put a lot of eyes on international crime thriller, The Two Faces of January. But for many the real draw will be author Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley), as the film marks yet another of her famed novels brought to the screen. When the last trailer for the film debuted a U.S. release date had yet to be secured, but that has now changed.
The latest trailer plays up the noir aspects and picturesque locale in Greece, Paris, and Crete. Mortensen and Dunst are a wealthy couple abroad who encounter a tourist/scam artist (Isaac) and rope him into their murderous plot while the wife may be falling for their new companion. It's another dark, complicated emotional morass from Highsmith, adapted and directed by Drive writer Hossein Amini.
The Two Faces of January has been given a VOD release on August 28th, followed by a limited theatrical run September 26th.
Throughout his screenwriting career, Hossein Amini has excelled at literary adaptations, penning films based on the works of Thomas Hardy (Jude), Henry James (Oscar-nominated The Wings of the Dove), James Sallis (Drive), and more. It's helped him to become one of Hollywood's most successful writers, even delving into blockbuster territory on occasion, and so it makes sense that for his directorial debut Amini would turn to another cherished author to adapt. In this case it's Patricia Highsmith and her 1964 thriller, The Two Faces of January.
The first trailer and poster for the film have been released, which assembles the likes of Kirsten Dunst, Oscar Isaac, and Viggo Mortensen. Set in 1962, the story centers on an American couple, him a con artist, who find themselves on the run in Greece and must seek help from a mysterious guide. Tensions and passions rise as the trio pass from one gorgeous locale to the next in what looks like a solid potboiler.
The Two Faces of January opens in the U.K. on May 16th but is playing the Berlin Film Festival now. Hopefully we'll get it here later this year.
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