This was a gripping gem of a film. It very successfully combined two stories – one focusing on the central character played by Amy Adams and her failing marriage to the man she coldly and judgmentally left her first love and putative author for. The second is the grim noir novel that he is just about to publish and which is a form of revenge for what she did to him so many years ago. As these two stories unfold, we gradually observe how Amy Adams’s character made a catastrophic character misjudgment in her early life with her first husband.
I was equally involved with the two stories and the making of the connections between the two was very subtly and effectively done. The film was full of marvellous cinematic touches, allowing images and shots to speak to the audience. This was particularly effective in the very powerful final scene where little details like Amy A, dressing very seductively for what she expects to be a meeting with her first husband, nevertheless tones it down as she observes herself in the mirror and fiercely wipes off the strong lipstick she had put on.
Like Tom Ford’s first film, this is the work of someone e who has a superb visual eye (as one would expect from a world-class designer), but also; someone e who understands cinema and how it works. A remarkable combination.