Pleasantly surprised with this film.
When I saw the reviews for this film, it seemed like it was a very average, kind of meh movie with a great Diane Lane performance. However, I actually really enjoyed it.
Diane Lane stars as Connie Sumner, married to Edward (played by Richard Gere), and they have a son together, Charlie (played by Erik Per Sullivan), living in the suburbs of NY. One day, while walking through a windy street in NYC, Connie trips and falls into Paul Martel (played by Oliver Martinez), who sells books for a living. After some chatting, Connie ends up going to Paul's apartment nearby and in a kind of heat of the moment action, they make serious love with one another. The film has an iconic scene of Connie on the train ride home struggling, as seen with her facial expressions, as she is on the one hand thrilled by the encounter and on the other hand feeling guilty for cheating on Edward, who is seemingly doing everything right (providing, being present, wanting to have sex with Connie, being a good father, etc.) but Connie just fell for Paul. While Paul and Connie make plenty of passionate love, Paul is shown to be a sort of womanizer, as Connie finds out she is not the only girl he is with at the time, pushing her away.
Eventually, Edward finds out about the affair and confronts Paul at his apartment. After having some drinks together, what at first seems like Paul drugging Edward (as Edward says he is feeling dizzy), there is kind of a shock as Edward takes a snow globe nearby and clubs Paul, murdering him. Just as he is panicking on what to do, he plays an incoming voice message from Connie saying to Paul she has to end the affair with him.
The rest of the film basically has Connie and Edward evading each other and police questions, and eventually Connie realizes Edward knows about the affair and killed Paul. In what I guess she realizes was a crime of passion, they end up making up and contemplate on what they should do to avoid jail time. The film ends with them parked in front of the police station, and they (seemingly) make the decision to flee, although it is left to the viewer to decide what happens next.
Diane Lane is absolutely incredible in this film, so expressive and captivating, just so good. Richard Gere is also great, his performance is also very emotional. Also I love the score, it is so fitting, a mix of haunting and alluring, just really great. I guess my dings about this film would be that it kind of feels a little divided (the first half very much being erotic, more emotional while the second half if the murder, more physical). I personally preferred the first half and wish they explored the characters more, especially Paul (he feels kind of underdeveloped). Overall though it's a very solid work.
Pleasantly surprised with this film.
When I saw the reviews for this film, it seemed like it was a very average, kind of meh movie with a great Diane Lane performance. However, I actually really enjoyed it.
Diane Lane stars as Connie Sumner, married to Edward (played by Richard Gere), and they have a son together, Charlie (played by Erik Per Sullivan), living in the suburbs of NY. One day, while walking through a windy street in NYC, Connie trips and falls into Paul Martel (played by Oliver Martinez), who sells books for a living. After some chatting, Connie ends up going to Paul's apartment nearby and in a kind of heat of the moment action, they make serious love with one another. The film has an iconic scene of Connie on the train ride home struggling, as seen with her facial expressions, as she is on the one hand thrilled by the encounter and on the other hand feeling guilty for cheating on Edward, who is seemingly doing everything right (providing, being present, wanting to have sex with Connie, being a good father, etc.) but Connie just fell for Paul. While Paul and Connie make plenty of passionate love, Paul is shown to be a sort of womanizer, as Connie finds out she is not the only girl he is with at the time, pushing her away.
Eventually, Edward finds out about the affair and confronts Paul at his apartment. After having some drinks together, what at first seems like Paul drugging Edward (as Edward says he is feeling dizzy), there is kind of a shock as Edward takes a snow globe nearby and clubs Paul, murdering him. Just as he is panicking on what to do, he plays an incoming voice message from Connie saying to Paul she has to end the affair with him.
The rest of the film basically has Connie and Edward evading each other and police questions, and eventually Connie realizes Edward knows about the affair and killed Paul. In what I guess she realizes was a crime of passion, they end up making up and contemplate on what they should do to avoid jail time. The film ends with them parked in front of the police station, and they (seemingly) make the decision to flee, although it is left to the viewer to decide what happens next.
Diane Lane is absolutely incredible in this film, so expressive and captivating, just so good. Richard Gere is also great, his performance is also very emotional. Also I love the score, it is so fitting, a mix of haunting and alluring, just really great. I guess my dings about this film would be that it kind of feels a little divided (the first half very much being erotic, more emotional while the second half if the murder, more physical). I personally preferred the first half and wish they explored the characters more, especially Paul (he feels kind of underdeveloped). Overall though it's a very solid work.
