Tuesday, March 2, 2010

A Single Man: A nod to Colin Firth

I don't have a lot that I liked about the Tom Ford-directed film A Single Man, but I have to say I liked Colin Firth. He did a good job as the newly single 1960s gay professor of literature in LA by showing melancholy, terrible depression, impatience, longing, determination and of course he swam around naked (was it just me, or was that a nod to his famous scene in Pride and Prejudice?). I also liked Ginnifer Goodwin as his neighbor trying to be PC (before it was necessary and was just called manners) and Matthew Goode as his deceased partner who wanted to throw caution to the wind, but knew in the 60s that might not be the easiest thing to do. As for the things I didn't like: the affected color changes characterizing Firth's connection to another person, too much literal "swimming" through his depression, and Julianne Moore's ridiculous over-the-top character. The other thing that bothered me, particularly when someone else pointed it out was how often they told the gorgeous Colin Firth how awful he looked, when we were given no reason to think he didn't look wonderful. It is a terrific story that probably makes a very good book, but the things I liked just barely outweighed the things I didn't. 2.5 of 5 lambs/stars

2 comments:

Unknown said...

hey hon! totally agree with your review. i thought colin firth was awesome, but the color thing drove me nuts (get it? b/w? color? he's _feeeeling_), julianne moore's character was totally unhinged (and her accent was pretty wonky), and while we all know and love colin firth in water scenes, after a while you were just like, yep, colin's right butt cheek. again. for two full minutes. he's floating. _still_. but darnit if the people weren't all incredibly pretty all the time. and CF just breaks your heart.

Reel Whore said...

Colin Firth was incredible. I enjoyed Single Man mostly, but it's one of those flicks I don't think I'd ever watch again - maybe just a few awesome Colin moments.