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NOCTURNAL ANIMALS
Director and screenwriter Tom Ford, the creative force behind the Colin Firth drama A Single Man had an intriguing idea that got away from him in 2016's Nocturnal Animals which, though well-acted, suffers due to an overly intricate screenplay that doesn't provide the payoff the viewer waits for.
This is the story of Susan (Amy Adams), a wealthy art gallery owner who is an insomniac in the middle of a troubled second marriage, who receives a manuscript in the mail from her ex-husband, Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal) who has dedicated the book to Susan and wants her thoughts on it. In the story, we are introduced to a man named Tony (also Gyllenhaal) who is traveling with his wife and daughter who are harassed on a dark highway one night resulting in a terrible tragedy.
We then get a flashback to Susan and Edward's marriage, which is revealed to have suffered because Edward felt emasculated by what he felt was Susan's lack of support in his writing career, which apparently was the beginning of the end of their relationship. Susan has interpreted this manuscript as some kind of revenge on Edward's part for what Susan did to him and though she is haunted by what Edward has written, before finishing it, she contacts Edward and tells him she wants to talk to him about it and he agrees.
Ford has an interesting idea here, but he lets it go too far...the story presented in the form of a manuscript is bloody and messy and goes far beyond a simple revenge scenario to the point that we are scratching out heads and wondering why this man thought that this bizarre story would upset his ex-wife. The parallels between Edward and Tony are obvious from jump and there is no reason for this manuscript to go as far as it does, though it does provide some interesting characters, most notable, a methodical police detective (Oscar nominee Michael Shannon) who has been diagnosed with cancer.
Ford has employed some solid production values here, including some striking cinematography and gets strong performances from Adams, Gyllenhaal, and especially Shannon, but there's some kind of payoff this story should have provided and didn't, leaving this viewer scratching his head as the credits rolled.
Director and screenwriter Tom Ford, the creative force behind the Colin Firth drama A Single Man had an intriguing idea that got away from him in 2016's Nocturnal Animals which, though well-acted, suffers due to an overly intricate screenplay that doesn't provide the payoff the viewer waits for.
This is the story of Susan (Amy Adams), a wealthy art gallery owner who is an insomniac in the middle of a troubled second marriage, who receives a manuscript in the mail from her ex-husband, Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal) who has dedicated the book to Susan and wants her thoughts on it. In the story, we are introduced to a man named Tony (also Gyllenhaal) who is traveling with his wife and daughter who are harassed on a dark highway one night resulting in a terrible tragedy.
We then get a flashback to Susan and Edward's marriage, which is revealed to have suffered because Edward felt emasculated by what he felt was Susan's lack of support in his writing career, which apparently was the beginning of the end of their relationship. Susan has interpreted this manuscript as some kind of revenge on Edward's part for what Susan did to him and though she is haunted by what Edward has written, before finishing it, she contacts Edward and tells him she wants to talk to him about it and he agrees.
Ford has an interesting idea here, but he lets it go too far...the story presented in the form of a manuscript is bloody and messy and goes far beyond a simple revenge scenario to the point that we are scratching out heads and wondering why this man thought that this bizarre story would upset his ex-wife. The parallels between Edward and Tony are obvious from jump and there is no reason for this manuscript to go as far as it does, though it does provide some interesting characters, most notable, a methodical police detective (Oscar nominee Michael Shannon) who has been diagnosed with cancer.
Ford has employed some solid production values here, including some striking cinematography and gets strong performances from Adams, Gyllenhaal, and especially Shannon, but there's some kind of payoff this story should have provided and didn't, leaving this viewer scratching his head as the credits rolled.