troydixon-40844
I would love to say this movie was great but...Long and boring, the affair that was supposed to be so sexy was okay but certainly not worth the hype. Acting was good but not great. I kept waiting for the exciting turn but even the death scene was none climatic.There was really no ending, just a long discussion and nothing is done. No tense moments, no twist, no nothing... just 2 hours and then its over.Why the 9 out of 10? well it must have connected with my wife as I got a handi for the 3rd act and that alone is worth the price of admission...
sinjinisengupta
Unfaithful!So, as far the storyline goes, it's known to most, and yet, worth a quick recap for the interest of some. A wife, apparently well settled into an eleven years old marriage with a eight year old living proof for a boy-kid, busy and lonely perhaps just as most at her age and standing would be, steps into that infamous pit that society calls adultery. She bumps into this stranger one fine stormy afternoon, joins him for coffee, and thereafter for sex the next day and every other days thereon. Husband starts with getting an inkling, investigates, finds out, and then, confronts. No, not with the woman but with the lover. The confrontation that starts so well that it could even dig into the profound "why" and take the issue (no, not problem! Issue.) by it's horn, however, unfortunately, rather, turns into a murder scene as the husband loses control over what he was meant to do and hits the guy on the head with a gift that he gave her and then she gave him in turn. The rest of the movie becomes a matter of eventual mutual knowledge, that they know that they know, and of course, police. It ends with a note where a peaceful kid sleeps in the car backseat while the couple, musing over how their rest of life could be a beautiful escapade, both term as important, pulls up their car outside the police station and kisses passionately as the traffic signal goes from red to green to yellow, back to red.Poetic? Maybe. Unresolved? Yes.But, question remains. What about that bull that we did not take by the horn? Really, what about that?Why did it happen? Why does it happen, that way?Just the feeling of feeling special, that? That thing of being treated like not just a wife but a woman? Being told she's beautiful? Being awaited, being looked forward to, being seen off, being missed? Being treated like she exists? Being taken interest in? Oh yes, perhaps!Or perhaps, more. Perhaps, knowing that life holds more treasure than what 'they' hand out to you if you don't ask. Perhaps!No, viewer. You don't have to wrap it up with a certificate, good or bad. Neither do you have to play safe to just say, yeah perhaps.. but no, not safe! Not judgment, not wisdom. Not the trap of security; not the courage to break free, either.Just, accept. Accept that it happened. Accept that it happens.It's a mistake! - What's a mistake? Either you do things, or you don't.PS: And hence, bear with me – A poem! - Mistakes, memories!
Martha Wilcox
There are times when this film draws too much attention to itself with lingering shots and unnecessary camera angles. The wind blowing at the beginning is all a bit too unreal. Diane Lane is a good actress and very attractive. She abandons herself in the part and you really believe her performance. But why would she fall for this French guy? Was she not happy in her marriage? Does she have an addictive personality? I lost sympathy for her character, but that doesn't take anything away from her performance.The pacing of the film is quite slow and felt more like a television movie rather than something cinematic. I believed Richard Gere's performance when he confronts the French guy, initially holding it together, and then falling sick when he sees the gift he gave to his wife giving to the French guy as a gift. If you've ever given someone you love something, or said something intimate to them, and then heard it repeated by third parties who know all about your business, you can relate to how Gere feels at this moment. The twist of him killing the French guy is cinematic with the blood pouring down from this head.I think more should have been made of the police investigation where Lane eventually realises that Gere knows about her affair and that he is responsible for the death of the French man. This is the point when the film became interesting, but it was too near the end for it to develop. The first part of Act 2 should be contracted, whereas the last part of Act 2 should be expanded. The problem with the film is the structure of the script, not the performances.
SnoopyStyle
Connie (Diane Lane) and Ed Sumner (Richard Gere) are a suburban married couple with a kid Charlie (Erik Per Sullivan). Nothing terrible has happened but their marriage shows signs of wear. Then the winds of change starts to blow literally, and she collides with Paul Martel (Olivier Martinez) in the city. He helps her out with her skinned knee. She just can't keep him out of her mind and calls him up. She keeps returning to him and finally submits to his charms. However Ed starts putting it all together.Diane Lane makes cheating classy. This movie may not work with somebody else. Never has a woman thinking about sex look so great. The story is basically a romance novel. One thing director Adrian Lyne knows about is how to class up some sexual ugliness. The use of classical piano almost makes the audience root for the cheaters. I am less certain about the on-the-nose Olivier Martinez, but the appealing Diane Lane makes up for any deficiencies.
