More News

When "A Single Man" opens, a male body is floating naked underwater. George, as we learn to call him, gracefully twists and turns, but cannot find the surface. We soon learn it was just a dream. Composed on the outside, the college professor (Colin Firth) has struggled to deal with the death of his longtime life partner Jim (Matthew Goode, "Watchmen"). The sequence represents everything that is right and wrong about the film; it's gorgeous to look at and expertly acted, but director Tom Ford fails to let the story tell itself. Instead, he beats the audience over the head with heavy doses of symbolism and editing room gymnastics.

Based on the groundbreaking 1964 novel by Christopher Isherwood, the movie follows the protagonist, an Englishman, on a typical day in Los Angeles that turns out to be anything but. Early on, we see that George is exceptionally observant, noticing every gesture around him. It soon becomes clear that he is absorbing a last dose of human culture before committing suicide. He buys bullets for a handgun, retrieves his will from his safety deposit box and lays out his best suit. Throughout the day, he recalls the happiest moments he shared with Jim.

But ending his life becomes complicated. One of his young students, Kenny, (Nicholas Hoult, "About a Boy"), coyly begins to seduce him. His neighbor Charley (Julianne Moore, "Children of Men") invites George over for an evening of dancing and memories of their days back in Britain. Despite George's homosexuality, Charley yearns for a life of love and commitment with her old friend.

Visually, the film is striking. Ford does a wonderful job of getting all the details right. From George's post-modern glass house to his sharp black-framed glasses, the world is the most fully developed vision of the early 1960s this side of "Mad Men." And basking in the Southern California sunlight, nearly all the characters look like they just stepped out of "Vogue" or "Esquire."

Unfortunately, Ford falls victim to the trappings of a young film student. Everything feels forced. The de-saturated colors that appear in moments of despair reek of an amateur with too much technology at his disposal. He wants badly for the movie to be haunting and visceral, but the barrage of slow-motion sequences pushes this agenda too far. It's hard not to chuckle as an owl flies poetically away from George's window. And then there's the heavy-handed symbolism. Ticking clocks, clever at first, become an obnoxious reminder that George's time is running out.

Perhaps most annoying is the faux French New Wave jump cuts that come out of nowhere. The tactic is meant to stir the audience's nerves, but becomes a source of irritation.

These technical failures are almost excusable because Ford does a stellar job directing his actors. Firth is steady and methodical, casting a dark shadow of a man who has never recovered from losing the love of his life. And he wonderfully exhibits George's understanding of his place in the world. This is 1962, several years before the gay rights movement really took off. Characters joke that they are "invisible." There is a delicate line between who George and Kenny are and who society wants them to be. Through steady but not obvious glances, the two engage in a sort of erotic game of chess. Kenny's piercing blue eyes almost become a character themselves.

Like Denzel Washington in "Training Day," Firth may find himself the beneficiary of an Oscar for a performance that outweighs the film itself. Moore shines as well. The actress, who has been nominated for a Golden Globe, shows why she is one of Hollywood's best and most underused talents. She openly embraces what is essentially an ugly part. With heavy eye makeup, chain smoking and fabulous eveningwear, Charley is a monument to swingin' '60s excess.

The smaller players are effective, too. Jon Kortajarena coolly steals a scene playing a Hispanic James Dean-type drifter and Kerri Lynn Pratt lights up the room as George's secretary. The film is ultimately a study of one man's struggle to shake off his past and embrace the present. Morgan Freeman is receiving praise for his nuanced portrayal of Nelson Mandela. Equal parts subtle and intense, Firth deserves just as many accolades.

The film is nice to look at and far from vacuous. Ford just tried to run before his legs were fully developed. The pieces are all there; it's unfortunate that he felt the desire to turn Isherwood's book into a 99-minute cologne ad.

A Single Man

R; Drama; 99 minutes

Director: Tom Ford

Cast: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Goode, Jon Kortajarena, Paulette Lamori, Keri Lynn Pratt, Paul Butler