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Unfaithful (Widescreen Edition)

Unfaithful (Widescreen Edition)

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: THERE IS ONLY ONE REASON TO SEE THIS MOVIE
Review: Richard Gere looks bewildered (he really should dye his hair) Diane Lane looks perpetually tired. But the Frenchman who plays the lover (Martinez?) is a gorgeous man and he's quite a pleasure to watch. The film is silly, but one can understand the temptation if it's packaged as beautifully as this fellow is.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Great..but ....
Review: This was a sexy movie....but it would have been better if the husband wasn't so perfect...no reason to cheat. It was kinda sad for me to watch...I just could never do that. I have been married for 6 years and I am very happy with a good man...I would NEVER do that to him...he's too good a man. Anyways...the dude she cheated with was not attractive...they should have gotten Vin Diesel, haha! Now that would have been hot! Diane Lane done an awesome job, though! And, I agree that the boy was too ugly to be theirs. (sorry bud)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very interesting........
Review: Unlike many Hollywood films, this movie does not glorify infidelity, but it shows the pain and unhappiness that it can cause. Richard Gere and Diane Lane play a happily married couple whose world is torn apart when a chance meeting between the wife and another man turns into a torrid affair. At first, the husband doesn't suspect, but soon the wife's changed attitude towards him begins to throw up red flags. He hires an investigator and soon their lives spin out of control as the ramifications of broken trust begin to tear apart the marriage. This movie is surprisingly thought-provoking and shows some of the inevitable gray areas between right and wrong.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Thought Provoking
Review: I wanted to see this movie when it was out in the theatre but I never had time. A friend gave me the movie as a gift, but I still hesitated in watching it. At first I figured it would be another "Fatal Attraction". BOY.....was I wrong. Essentially the story of an unfaithful spouse is nothing new to a movie watcher like myself, but this movie left me speechless. Unlike most other movies of this genre, there isn't really a bad guy. I mean you could hate the beautiful character of Paul Martel. You could hate the cheating wife. You might even hate the lovable husband. Yet, when the story really begins to delve into the lives of the main characters, albeit very briefly, one can not help but to understand their perspective. I give this movie 5-stars because I feel that it accurately portrays the ups and downs of being "Unfaithful".

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Diane Lane all grown up and in search of a little adultery
Review: For me "Unfaithful" presented some interesting considerations simply on the basis of the casting of the principle actors in the Sumner family. This is Diane Lane, whom I had a big time crush on when her first film "A Little Romance" came out in 1979, as the wife; Richard Gere, the sexy star of "American Gigolo" and "Pretty Woman," as the husband; and Erik Per Sullivan, Dewey on "Malcolm in the Middle," as the child. Consequently, "Unfaithful" tells the story of a wife who has a steamy affair, played by the only child star I ever had a crush on, who thereby cheats on her husband, one of the sexiest stars in the movies, while their child, one of the cutest and funniest little kids ever to be on television, watches and wonders what is going on.

In all these personal ruminations the Gere movie persona actually plays into the effectiveness of the film, because we are never really sure why Connie Sumner has an affair. More to the point, we are not sure why she, or any woman, would cheat on Richard Gere (Edmund Sumner). The film's suggestion is that Connie is caught up in strong natural forces, symbolized by the extremely strong winds that literally blow her into the arms of another man, Paul Martel (Olivier Martinez). But ultimately what is important here are not the causes, but the results as both straying wife and desperate husband go too far.

"Unfaithful" is based on Claude Chabrol's film "La Femme Infidele," and "based" is indeed the operative world (although the story goes back in great literature to "Madame Bovary"). Although I have not seen the original, it is clear from the director's commentary and other mentions of the French film that there are significant differences between the two, both in terms of what is shown regarding the affair (more) and where the story ends (later). The strength of Adrian Lyne's film is that it eschews conventionality, both in terms of how it presents the affair and how it plays out the consequences of the actions of these characters.

This film is one of the most erotic I have seen in some times. The eroticism is based on Lane's performance (specifically the look she gets in her eye), but I also think her age enters into it because her maturity brings a realism to these scenes that transcends the normal sexual romping we see in so many of these films. Lyne's direction (and Anne V. Coates's editing) also comes into play as the first sex scene is a montage of Connie on the train ride home with flashbacks of what she is remembering. The net effect is more suggestive than explicit, but that is, of course, what makes it particularly erotic.

I also liked the way Lyne ends the film (even more so after seeing the alternative ending). As the plot develops and takes its twists and turns you can see all the generic possibilities spreading out before you, but Lyne chooses none of those paths. Consequently, "Unfaithful" ends as I found myself wanting it to end, although certainly that was not what I was thinking would end up happening half way through the film.

Final Note: The DVD extras in terms of commentary and interviews are extremely helpful in providing insights into the way the film developed. Lyne, Lane and Gere were clearly into this production and hopefully Lane will at least receive an Oscar nomination for her performance.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Tedious and completely unbelievable
Review: Diane Lane is a beautiful housewife. She is not unhappy. She is not bored. She loves her husband and their son. But we are expected to believe that she would fling herself into an affair with an unattractive, scuzzy-lookin' French guy after knowing him for, oh, about ten minutes. Gimme a break! Lane's performance is pretty good, but Richard Gere is fairly awful as the wronged husband fighting for his self-control. The kid is played by one of the Malcolm in the Middle kids, who looks absolutely nothing like a child Lane and Gere would possibly have together. After long, boring tedium, the movie ends with -- ta daa!!! -- SYMBOLISM!!! Yawn.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Finally, a film about adultry that gets it right
Review: Unfaithful breaks the genre conventions of love affairs to bring a fresh and, more importantly, realistic approach to the subject. The end result is a fantastic film that explores the passions and consequences of cheating on a loved one.

So many films dealing with the subject usually do one of two things, either create a spouse who is so vile and ruthless you're happy for the other to have an affair with someone who treats them right. Or the spouse who does the cheating is just a nasty person. Either way, only one is really a victim. In Unfaithful though, both spouses are victims. The affair just happens, as there usually is no strong reason. Real life doesn't always have a reason. There is no real bad guy, just bad actions and the downward spiral that is sometimes caused by them.

The film has a great pace to it, as it explores the early passion of an affair, then the pain and disaster that follows. Everything happens when it should, and nothing is ever completely spelled out for the audience, especially the beautifully constructed ending, acknowledging that yes, viewers can think for themselves.

Unfaithful is definitely recommended and well worth viewing. It's about time a film was honest in its portrayal of adultery.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Surprisingly good
Review: Richard Gere and Diane Lane play an older couple whose marriage is shattered by Lane's affair with a seductive Frenchman played by Olivier Martinez. Director Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction, Indecent Proposal; I guess he loves directing these types of films) makes Lane and Martinez' sexual chemistry believeable and erotic without being explicit, and Lane gives the performance of her career. Gere is in a welcome change of pace as the devoted husband who suffers the pain of being cheated on, and he gives a great performance in a role which I originally thought he would have been miscast in. Though the film may be a bit too long for its' own good, all in all, Unfaithful is a great erotic thriller that keeps you watching until the final frame of film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a lovely and wonderful film with Diane Lane in top form
Review: i thought that unfaithful was a lovely and wonderful film. diane lane was sensational and should win the oscar. the dvd is superb in every regard.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Conflicts of the Soul
Review: Adrian Lyne has succeeded in bringing a foreign feel to an American movie. Normally such artistic extravagance is saved for French cinema. This movie is loosely based on Claude Chabrol's 1969 film La Femme Infidèle.

The story centers around relationships which always makes a movie terribly appealing to anyone who enjoys living out the characters emotions vicariously. The intensity of the emotions grip your attention relentlessly from start to finish.

A serene lifestyle, happy marriage and a child fill the first few scenes and yet there is an eerie calm. While her husband seems to be providing financially, he seems to be unable to sense his wife's need for romance and sexual adventure. They seem to have stopped writing their own romance novel and Connie Sumner (Diane Lane) is looking for a way out of her daily drudgery. (Of course she seems to gain hardly any enjoyment in life from being a mother and wife. Not a good message.) Although she does seem to enjoy washing dishes. The sensuous bubbles swirling as Diane Lane is lost in a fantasy is artistically appealing.

Then the storm breaks and Connie doesn't seem to be aware of her soon-to-be lover's predatory nature. Nor does she seem to see that this man is mirroring her repressed need for passionate abandon.

It seems Connie has turned her back on her own internal moral compass to experience pleasure she could not find with her faithful husband (Richard Gere). This seems to cause a lot of suffering for desire. How is it possible for these characters not to desire? It is the human condition. Connie even runs from her desire a number of times, but it seems to chase her down and finally imprison her.

It does seem that these actors only have two choices. Either they can follow their desire and eventually get burnt by passion which ignites the very soul, or they can follow their inner moral compass and make choices which might allow their lives to stay on a normal plane of emotion. Perhaps normality is at times worth enduring for the mental stability.

On the one hand we have brutality, lust, fear, desire, excitement, danger, reckless intimacy, decisions made with the heart and betrayal.

On the other we have security, love, comfort, safety, understanding, loyalty, stability, decisions made logically and commitment.

Connie chooses to take the hand of lust and decides her fate. She decides not to settle into a boring existence with Edward. It seems that she chooses the more painful option for short-term pleasure and the ripples of her own erotic escapes seep out around her as pain and conflicted emotions. The acting is actually the best I've seen in a long while.

So why does Connie have the affair in the first place? This is unclear at best.

Chemistry, fate, a search for intimacy?

Is sex the only reason people have affairs or is it much deeper. Connie doesn't really seem to have any other reason beside curiosity and perhaps physical attraction. What exactly makes her so curious about this French bookseller? Is it because he seem dangerous, edgy, eccentric? Is she just bored? Is he just a book she wants to read? In bed?

He fits the "ideal French fantasy" mold rather well. As if he walked straight out of a romance novel complete with a French accent. Ladies, you have been warned.

And, to top it off, Paul Martel (Olivier Martinez) doesn't really even pursue her. He basically just waits to catch his prey in his book web. He relies on his natural charm and mysterious location to lure in the ladies. Connie seems like she was hit by a "love truck" right after she meets Paul, so perhaps it is just fate and chemistry. Perhaps she is looking for a sensitive and exciting lover and her husband is not providing her with a fantasy escape. All she needs is an invitation for tea and a band aid and she is all his.

The nudity is at times too gratuitous and insults the actor's intelligence. Diane Lane's breasts could have been beautifully covered in bubbles or more lace and she would have come across as more vulnerable and intelligent. In her black bra she was much more beautiful than "almost" completely bare in the tub.

I watched everything on this DVD. The alternative ending was not as good as the real thing. The deleted scenes were definitely not worth including, so deleting them showed great direction by Adrian Lyne.

To me, this movie presents a striking comparison between the beauty of our good nature and the consequences of following our more baser instincts in the unsafe environment of adultery. You soon realize that having an affair hurts everyone.

It is rare these days to watch a movie and ponder the consequences of action for days afterwards. All I can think is why would she want Paul when Edward was so sexy, almost vulnerable and already hers. The way Edward looks at Connie at times can really take your breath away. He is so vulnerable because he really does love her.

I am left thinking about a line from the movie: "This moment is your life." Or could this moment be the key to your future happiness or sorrow?

A mildly erotic thriller with brilliant cinematography.


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