Aw look, they're
both tired
 |
|
Two hours of
sheer boredom where everything is telegraphed and you're just urging
the actors to get on with it.
Nigel Bell
From the director
who gave us 91/2 Weeks and Fatal Attraction you pretty
much know what to expect from Adrian Lyne.
A bit of smut
and maybe a few shocks (remember "mad" Glenn Close in
Fatal Attraction).
The smut's there,
sadly there's little else.
The Plot
Connie and Edward Sumner (Land and Close) live in the New York
suburbs with their 9-year-old son and have a pretty healthy marriage.
 |
| Will they
or won't they - who cares? |
That is until
Connie gets caught in a storm and is blown into Paul Martel, a French
bookseller.
Kind Paul makes
sure Connie's cut knees are cleaned. It obviously has the desired
affect as Mrs Sumner embarks on a torrid affair with the Gallic
bookworm.
Despite warnings
she continues to meet Paul. Edward gets suspicious, hires a detective
and learns the truth.
He decides to
confront his wife's lover.....
The verdict
This film is so slow it's unbelievable. The only twist is it's
Diane Lane's character who is unfaithful and not Gere's.
From the moment she meets Paul you know she'll be tempted. But
it takes so long for her to finally give in.
After that,
you know Gere will find out. But again you have to wait another
half hour.
 |
| Richard
Gere questions what happened to his career |
He needn't wait
that long. At one point he's told by an employee he's just sacked
to take a look at his own family.
Instead of quizzing
the man over this comment Gere merely has a glazed expression.
Gere really
is going through the motions. Only Lane really shows any passion
to her character.
It takes so
long for the film to turn into a thriller that you're really not
bothered when it does.
In the hands
of someone like Hitchcock this could really have lifted Unfaithful.
Sadly, Lyne's
direction is worse than a Brian Da Palma film.
You don't care
about anyone, you just want Unfaithful to end.
And the ending
is so lame it really is a case of why did I bother?
Slow, tedious
rubbish.
|
