XX/XY Review
by Jerry Saravia (faust668 AT aol DOT com)January 8th, 2004
XX/XY (2002)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
RATING: Two stars
"There's no room for honesty in a healthy relationship."
"XX/XY" is one kind of film that switches gears and becomes something else. Though this is a conceit I do not mind, the first half is indicative of a more soulful, more piercing portrait of relationships than the other half.
Coles Burroughs (Mark Ruffalo) is a filmmaking major at Sarah Lawrence College who has eye out for Sam (Maya Stange), another student. Coles notices her at a subway station and stares. They end up at the same party where he asks if he can go back to her room. Sam agrees, as long as her roomate pal, Thea (Kathleen Robertson), can accompany them. This is a menage a trois situation, more or less. Coles goes along with it, but Sam apologizes for their frank manners. At least they had fun, but Coles is more intrigued by Sam than by Thea. So it seems Coles wants only Sam, but then he has a one-night stand. Then Coles fools around with Thea in front of Sam. Finally, the relationships are terminated for many years. Ah but then, by the hand of divine intervention, Coles runs into Sam. Coles is now working on commercials and has a fiancee. Sam is smitten all over again and still talks to Thea, who co-owns a restaurant. A heated romance is in the works.
"XX/XY" begins like a drama of a menage a trois but ends with the conventional niceties of an average romantic comedy-drama. What is intriguing is the relationship between Coles, Sam and Thea, particularly when we get clues as to Thea's emotional response to this relationship. We also see Coles' inability to cling to Sam without fooling around with others, including Thea. This is where the filmmakers lose their initial focus on a triad, as opposed to Coles and Sam as lovers. It is clear that Coles is no good for her - he is too immature - and that Sam deserves a man who can love her without seeking love everywhere. By flashing forward, we see Coles is no different and is still unable to cling, though he denies it.
The most fascinating character in the film is Coles's fiancee, Claire (Petra Wright), who is not depicted as a one-dimensional caricature but as a real adult woman who understands him better than anyone else. She knows that he still loves Sam and is willing to forego their relationship for his own admittance and honesty. The fact that Coles can't admit to anything is what makes the ending melancholic and frustrating.
Mark Ruffalo gives all the right dimensions to Coles, just like he did as the immature brother in "You Can Count On Me." He is the kind of character who is tough to like or even appreciate, nor do we understand his motivations. We sense he loves Sam but we are never really sure - Ruffalo hits on ambiguous notes with ease. He feels like a person out of real life.
The two characters who never quite come to life are Sam and Thea. Maya Stange and Kathleen Roberston seems to float in a vacuum of indifference, as if nothing ever mattered to them in the first place. They do not vibrate with any passion or hidden dimensions like Ruffalo does with his character.
"XX/XY" is often intriguing but never wholly satisfying. Relationships can be treated with indifference but the feeling I got was that indifference is all there is to a relationship. I got the feeling by the end that Coles was beginning to see it another way.
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