Unfaithful Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)May 8th, 2002
UNFAITHFUL
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2002 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
UNFAITHFUL, by director Adrian Lyne (FATAL ATTRACTION), tells the story of a middle age housewife named Connie Sumner (Diane Lane), who, one very windy day in New York, bumps into an irresistible French hunk. The good looking guy, Paul Martel (Olivier Martinez), is a 29-year-old with the disheveled look and the constant two-day-old beard that Europeans find so sexy. Within days -- following an affair-by-numbers approach -- they are bumping and grinding in his apartment, while her 8-year-old (Erik Per Sullivan) is at school and her husband (Richard Gere) is at work.
In addition to being too long and predictable, the movie's chief problems are that it's never quite convincing enough to rise to the level of a cautionary tale, and the sex, with one major exception, is too choreographed for the film to qualify as a guilty pleasure. The one impressive exception comes when Connie first crosses the line. As she lies on Paul's bed for the first time, her whole body quivers in convulsions as if she is both freezing and in the throws of anticipatory orgasms. Lane pulls this off masterfully. The other sex is so clichéd -- including sex in a public toilet -- that you expect to see a "sex choreographer" listed in the credits.
The affair's classical phases are so precisely followed that you feel the rules must be written in stone somewhere. "I think this thing is a big mistake," Connie remarks shortly before hopping into bed with her paramour. After this comes the time when she's convinced her husband knows, but he doesn't yet. This is followed by the time when he suspects but isn't sure. She is next almost caught but isn't. Then she is seen by a friend who doesn't tell. After which comes the phase in which he's sure but isn't telling her yet. And finally -- drum roll -- the confrontation scene, which is done in a surprisingly fresh way. Of yes, do you think her lover will prove faithful to her? If you can't answer that question, then maybe you won't have any problems with the script.
The acting, however, is never a problem, with everyone in the cast giving the material their all. The overall effect of the movie on you isn't likely to be sexual titillation or fear of infidelity. It's so overly long that exhaustion is most likely to be what it produces.
UNFAITHFUL runs too long at 2:05. It is rated R for "sexuality, language and a scene of violence" and would be acceptable for older teenagers.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, May 10, 2002. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC and the Century theaters.
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Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
