MaestroReviews

Deb and I are artists, painters actually. We go see films as often as once a week. That's right, we go to the theater and sit in a dark room with strangers to see movies. We rarely rent. We like "little" movies, foreign and documentary films. We try to stay away from mainstream and blockbusters whenever possible, but a couple sneak in each year. We seek out the obscure. We try to avoid violent movies, and that really limits our choices, most film makers seem to think violence makes a story interesting.
I try not to give anything away in the reviews, but offer an honest reaction.
We rate them 1~10, 10 being highest.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

A Single Man

Deb 7 Me 8

This was a great romantic tale of dealing with love lost. It was a very traditional story told well. It is an absolutely beautiful film to watch. Almost every scene is filled with good-looking people lit in stirring ways set in perfect period sets. The biggest twist is that all the romantic interests are dudes.

The film is based on a book by Chris Isherwood. He wrote I Am A Camera and Cabaret. He was also the subject of the movie Chris and Don, about Isherwood picking up on a young male artist, Don Bachardy, and having a life long love. Deb and I know Bachardy’s artwork and even have mutual friends. Don was creative consultant on this film directed by fashion guru Tom Ford, his first film. (Thank you Scott Faris for teaching me to read the credits when we were kids.)

Yes there are some problems with the film. It was set during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 yet there was a 1963 ‘Vette in a parking lot. There were some people introduced for no apparent reason, there were some scenes that weren’t connected to anything other than they were beautifully shot.

One of the measures of a good movie is that they can rise above any perceived flaws and you concentrate on the story. I thought it was a good story, told well. There was tension and release, humor and drama, it’s got it all. There is a lot of romance. The scenes of budding love, of wooing a suitor are all effective. There’s the twist of them all being guys that may make people feel edgy, and that’s a fine result of good film making.

On my score sheet the flaws were overridden by the well told story. Deb had a tougher time letting the holes go and gave it a lower score. We both were struck by how pretty the movie is, and that was even a bit distracting for Deb.

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