 "a damaged film" | 2010-02-08 |
| - Reviewed By mb washington |
I like Jeremy Irons, but I was pretty disappointed in this film.
I think that Binoche comes off as somewhat wooden, and the sex scenes are comedic. They look like a couple of marionette puppets going at it. I don't need to go into detail with the storyline; others have done that.
I give it 3 stars because it's okay, I suppose. This is the sort of film that you may consider renting, or better yet, wait for it to air on TV someplace. I took the chance buying it because it was on a good sale.
A lot of people seem to want to over-analyze and interpret the meta-messages, etc., and tell you what it REALLY means, lol. But at the end of the day, it's not that great of a film overall. |
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 "great psychodrama of forbidden passion and self-destruction" | 2010-02-02 |
| - Reviewed By Robert J. Crawford from Balmette Talloires, France |
This is a movie for the middle aged: after a successful career and the nurture of a perfect family, a man chucks it all for the wrong woman. He is exhausted from his idyllic life and meaningful career, seeking a way out, and finds it. Everyone loses.
The story unfolds in absolutely horrific fashion, complete with the graphic portrayal of the passion that becomes the only thing at the center of his life. You watch with a mix of titillation and disgust at the downward spiral. For a long time, I could not understand the Binoche character: she seemed like a doll, an empty vessel for pleasure with no sexual boundaries while protecting her inner self. Then I realized that, I believe, she felt so empty and "damaged" that she needed to fill the space through sex; unstable by nature, she would be disastrous as an investment in life, but with the ability to throw herself into sex with total passion. A new kind of femme fatale. Binoche makes her extremely subtle and enigmatic.
As always with Malle, there are many levels on which the film can be viewed, an extraordinarily rich viewing experience that can be viewed many times, that is, if you can tolerate the pain and catastophe. The acting is absolutely first rate and endlessly evocative in the way cinema can offer a window into life is seconds of an expression. It is true art.
Recommended with enthusiasm and an equal measure of revulsion. |
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 "Great?" | 2010-01-29 |
| - Reviewed By Cansass2009 from Hutchinson,Ks. |
I had trouble making this into a 2 star movie but the acting forced me to raise my rating. This is suppose to be a great story? Puh-lease! Let's see, a mature but emotionally dead man want's to hump his son's lover from now till the cows come home. I guess some people refer to this as forbidden love which I feel needs animals or dead people to fill the bill. What do I know as I'm easily offended?
Any way this great? story discovers he always wanted to hump anyone but his wife. He don't care if his nubile daughter knows, he don't care what it'll affect in any life he had up 'til now, he don't care are the three words that describe him totally. That includes his absence of feeling about the girl his wee willie winkie must meat again. The 5 star people yell "You got it. His passion overrides every aspect of the situation." No I don't get how anyone could find that to be obsessive in a sensual manner. It is obsessive in a maniacal I get or I kill manner. Just because the story has a little sex in it doesn't mean it's an accurate portrayal of sensual. This was about power as you'll discover while he is repeatedly bouncing her head off the floor as they sensuously? hump. Power is not the most intoxicating aphrodisiac. It's nice it is set in London because this guy is the classical cock-up. It is the story that stinks unbelievably & probably shoudn't get 1 star. Louis Malle gets zero, zip, nada.
There are great tales of human passion & this isn't one. Both RIDICULE & DANGEROUS LIAISON"S show this stinker for what it is. DAMAGE neither has, shows or is a tale of great passion or desire. It is mainly what a teenage boy would dream of with his eyes shut after his first issue of Playboy. |
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| "He Reminds Me of the Fonz" | 2010-01-20 |
| - Reviewed By Cary B. Barad from Baltimore, MD |
| An endless panalopy of soft-core fornication embodied in a plot that is somewhat muddled. That is, the motivation of the young female protagonist is murky at best. And since the entire story is contingent on really understanding this woman's motivation, the outcome to a viewer is unsatisfying. And why does the male protagonist keep physically reminding me of Henry Winkler (aka "The Fonz") |
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 "How to distroy your Life Family & Career in a couple of easy steps" | 2010-01-20 |
| - Reviewed By A Legend in his own mind from The Peoples Republic of California |
| It is real easy for a man to do. Just let your little head instead of your big head do all of your thinking for you! This a fine morality film that just showes in a believable manner how to wreck everything that has taken a life time to build. Kudos to the Actors, Writers, Photography, Directors et al for a job well done! |
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| "Lovely Binoche !" | 2009-12-15 |
| - Reviewed By Rosemimine from Paris |
One of my favourite film with Binoche...a great movie, very well acted. Jeremy Irons at his best !
I must admit that Juliette Binoche is my favourite french actress ! |
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