Film Review: “A Single Man”

July 20, 2010 in - 43 views

 
Mr. Happy
MR. HAPPY presents The CHAT SHACK rating system:
 1 boner up = poor, 2 boners up = fair, 3 boners up = good, 4 boners up = very good, 5 boners up = Excellent 

 

Review "A Single Man"
Genre Gay Themed, Drama
Runtime 99 minutes
Produced by Tom Ford, Chris Weitz, Andrew Miano, Roberto Salerno with Jason Alisharan
Directed by Tom Ford
Written by Christopher Isherwood (novel); Tom Ford and David Scearce (screenplay)
Starring Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode, Ginnifer Goodwin, Nicholas Hoult
MPAA Rating Rated R for some disturbing images and nudity/sexual content
Reviewer Rating 4 Boners up

 

Hi there, this is the first of Simon and Pedro's movie reviews, and for our first review we selected a gay themed film.  As homage to Kyle, our resident movie critic, I followed his format so we maintain some standards here…now on to the film.

"A Single Man" is an adaptation of the 1964 novel of Christopher Isherwood.  The film is set in the 60's, post Cuban missile crisis.  George Falconer (Colin Firth), is a middle-aged Englishman, a Professor living in California, who is dealing with the loss of his partner, a young man who he had met at a party.  He and his partner have been together for 16 years only to be parted due to a tragic accident that left his partner Jim (Mathew Goode) dead.  "A Single Man" is a film set in a specific timeframe, the course of events spanning one full day with flashbacks as an entry point to look deeper into the characters background.  The movie is dramatic and morbid at the same time.  The sadness of the theme was very effective in conveying the pain of loosing a loved one, especially when George was advised not to attend his deceased partner's funeral, which the family of the deceased had discreetly requested through a phone call.  George plans for his own death, arranging monies and insurance policies, cleaning out his desk at work, leaving letters for people he holds dear.  But during the course of the day, change is slowly creeping into his life.

The film takes a loving and mournful approach to a homosexual relationship and the death of such a relationship….the simplicity of the 60's reflected on how simple and warm was the relationship that existed in that time period.  Another impressive archetype that the film portrayed is Charley (Julianne Moore). Charley is a divorcee and George's best friend.  They go a long way back from London and had a sexual encounter during their younger days.  The archetypal FAG HAG could be seen in Charley, as she's a good friend to George. She drinks, smokes a lot and has a potty mouth for a lady.  One very important scene in the movie was when Charley and George had an argument regarding relationships, George pointing to his 16 years of loving relationship with Jim and Charley pointing out its not the same as to her (9?) years of marriage. Charley at this moment truly became the dumb blonde as she implied that the 16 year relationship between George and Jim was not a real relationship, which George challenged and corrected.

During the course of events, a student of his could be seen trying to get close to George.  There is sexual energy in the story arc of Kenny Potter (Nicholas Hoult), as his interest with George gets more obvious as the film progresses. Kenny is George's inquisitive student who rarely speaks in class but suddenly decides to pursue George's attention, (there's some nice nude scenes here… oh wipe that drool of your lips hehehe).  Kenny Potter portrays the sexual awakening of the 60's, the questioning of the sexual identity…and true enough he implies he questions who he is.

If you don't tear up even a bit while watching this film, I suggest you thaw out that heart of yours a little.

I give it a 4 boners up out of 5.

-Simon

 

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