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Summary: DIANE LANE's Oscar nominated performance lifts UNFAITHFUL
Review: UNFAITHFUL is a terrific movie, but it benefits even more from one of THE GREAT all time performances by it's star. DIANE LANE (The Perfect Storm, Streets Of Fire) re-teams with her "Cotton Club" co-star RICHARD GERE and she gives an astonishing Oscar nominated performance that is sexy, haunting and extremely human and sympathetic despite her actions. It is Lane's acclaimed performance that lifts UNFAITHFUL to greatness. It's already a terrific movie but Lane makes it a classic. The DVD is sensational as well, with a great picture, sound and plenty of great extras. 10 out of 10.
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Summary: A straight-faced fable
Review: In this earnest fable, a leggy Eve screws up literally with a stereotypical french seductor in a range of outrageous places. Her wanton indulgence eventually induces her more naturally innocent husband to his own brand of sin. (Historical log: 2100 years haven't adjusted our view of to whom original sin finally belongs.) To thier credit, both Diane Lane and Richard Gere make significantly more of this than the script provides them with. Whether you will be moved by the process will depend on two things: your interest in the performances for their own sake, and the degree to which you can admit the implications of the story. Our Eve's fundamental dissatisfaction with her suburban Eden is left for self-evident. Apparently, the merely good and succesful Richard Gere with a few extra pounds is meant to look like a classic comprimise. The film further flatters itself ironic by naming its heroine "Constance" (read: even the best of us is no better than her when confronted with an accent.) But the scenes of her seduction by the synthetic "sexual ideal" are entirely without irony. Watching her fall under his co-ed manuevers will separate the believers from the non.
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Summary: Psychological thriller
Review: a deeply moving, stirring psychological thriller with unexpected twists and powerful moments of lust and danger. The acting is convincing and I found it interesting to see how the characters processed difficult circumstances and made decisions accordingly. Diane Lane is incredibly sexy and Richard Gere put forth one of his best performances in years. Excellent movie.
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Summary: Diane Lane is unforgettable in her Oscar nominated role
Review: Diane Lane (The Perfect Storm, Streets of Fire) is unforgettable in her Oscar nominated role of a housewife who is tempted by infidelity and hen watches her life fall apart around her as a consequence. Stylishly shot and brilliantly acted, this drama / thriller is a superb film topped by the Oscar worthy Diane Lane performance. Unforgettable romantic (ans erotic) thriller by the director of Fatal Attraction.
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Summary: Potent
Review: This tale of infidelity and murder packs one heck of a punch. This is probably Diane Lane's role of her career. She looks good. This movie is unsettling; it forces you to look every possible rationale for infidelity right in the eye. It will make you think, particularly at the end. Make it your business to see this movie at least once.
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Summary: a study in acting, if nothing else...
Review: This is an excellent movie mostly because of the virtuoso performance by Diane Lane. Even Richard Gere is good as her sympathetic husband. The movie is somewhat weak on plot and is similiar to a movie like Kramer v Kramer in that it is more just a glimpse of a situation someone happens to be in. There are only a couple of ways a movie like this can end, and, without spoiling it, the ending is really no surprise. Still, because of the great acting and Adrian Lynn's steady directing, it's worth seeing as a very well made movie
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Summary: Oh Diane, Diane. . . .
Review: Look, the movie gets three stars because of Diane Lane. Director Adrian Lyne has been putting out bad "high-brow" erotica for years now, but those other movies have not featured Diane Lane. Hence, AUTOMATIC three stars. Besides being stunningly lovely still after all these years, she reminds us here what a terrific actress she is, too. The scene on the train where she reminisces about her first erotic encounter with her unshaven French beau is already a classic, and will be used as a clinic for silent acting at Method classes everywhere. As good as she is, she can't single-handedly make *Unfaithful* a great movie that I'd unreservedly recommend. The movie asks us to believe that a beautiful woman would cheat on a wealthy husband with his own security business who also looks just like Richard Gere. Curiously, Gere's hair is dyed a weird orange-brown here, presumably to make him look younger . . . when what is called for is his normally white hair. I mean, Lane's Constance (get the irony of that name, haw haw?) needs SOME kind of incentive to cheat -- perhaps if Gere at least LOOKS old, that would suffice. (Actually, any other actor besides Gere would suffice, in terms of keeping the annoyance-level down. He's in full Method mode here: wincing, breathing loudly through the nose, the usual Gere routines.) And why does Lane's lover have to be a Frenchman, anyway? I realize that *Unfaithful* is based on a French movie -- hence the nod. But aren't there any good-looking NEW YORKERS in New York? In any event, Lane creates a portrait of a woman gleefully falling into a self-destructive abyss of lust -- a spectacle that makes this otherwise tawdry melodrama quite worth watching.
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Summary: Mentally AND physically provocative...
Review: "Unfaithful" is one of those movies that fulfills the prophecy of almost any sinful fantasy anyone has had of doing something forbidden, secretive, passionate...which, of course, makes it all the more exciting. However, this movie shows the dark side of what those fantasies can bring if they are brought to frightening fruition. Connie Sumner (excellently played by Diane Lane of "The Outsiders" fame) has the idyllic suburban life. Her devoted husband is a handsome, successful businessman (the perfect role for Richard Gere), and they have an adorable young son. She's happy, not even bored, with her marriage, and her life is filled with purpose. Then the stranger comes along, played by Olivier Martinez. You don't even think anything is going to happen between them, really. She fights against her temptations for a while and then suddenly succumbs to them. On their first encounter, you can see her pangs of guilt, very well demonstrated in their first love scene. But soon, she surrenders to her primordial instincts. Things go smoothly until you see the telltale signs she's having an affair in other aspects of her life. Her organized family life becomes more disrupted, she pops in and surprises her husband at work bearing gifts....covering up her guilt. He starts figuring things out and hires a PI to investigate, and he finds the man with whom his wife has been cheating. He confronts the gigolo, and then the interesting stuff starts to happen... This movie really reminded me of "In the Bedroom" in that it's about a relationship that is viewed as inappropriate and the unthinkable happens to tear it apart. However, even though one would think the story would end at that point, the aftermath is what evolves as the interesting plot line. You see what happens when two people try to maintain the facade of happiness while in a tarnished relationship. There is no way to repair what has happened, and the devoted husband hates the adulterous wife, but you know that they still love each other. This struggle makes the story so provocative and emotionally gut-wrenching. This movie doesn't get 4 or 5 stars because I found the basic foundation for the affair ridiculous, and I couldn't help but just HATE Diane Lane's character through the whole thing. It made me sick watching her fawn over this French gigolo like he was heroin. It is not the type of movie I could watch over and over again, but it is still worth watching at least once. It is definitely a conversation-starter, and it really makes you think: even if you're happy with what you have, who's to say what you would do if something unpredicted came along?
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Summary: Mesmerizing performance by Diane Lane
Review: Wow, I knew Diane Lane could act, but this movie really sealed it for me. She MADE this movie. "Unfaithful" is a fairly well-done movie about a suburban housewife who finds herself having an affair with a younger man in the city. Although the theme is really nothing new, Lane's superb acting truly conveys her character's mixed emotions - embarrassment, excitement, shame, giddiness. The gamut of emotions that runs across her face on her subway ride home after her first tryst with her lover pretty much tells the whole story of how this woman feels about what she's doing. Without Lane, this movie would have been mediocre. With Lane, it was elevated to a whole new level. It's a shame that she didn't win the Oscar for this performance; she deserved it.
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Summary: Taboo subject handled skillfully by director and actors
Review: The interesting thing about Adrian Lyne films is that he makes us face the raw and addicting side of sexuality that most people don't care to come to grips with. And he is very effective at it. Just take a look at "Fatal Attraction" and "9 1/2 Weeks." His latest, "Unfaithful" is no exception to his style. Less capable directors would concentrate on the erotica, making this a late night flick on cable. Lyne never fails to humanize his work by building tension and giving consequences to actions. Most characters in his films rarely escape accountability. Diane Lane is very good and is blessedly utilized here. She gives a fresh take to the "bored" housewife and is unnervingly sympathetic. The Oscar nod was deserved and, agreeing with other critics, she does carry the film. But the big surpise of the film is Richard Gere. He drops his trademark coyness and plays a sympathetic, dutiful family man and you really feel for him. I was amazed that he could give such depth to a character. Particularly in a key scene. I was not expecting to like this one but am glad I saw it. A mistake that some guys may make is that this is a "chick flick." Not the case at all. If nothing more than seeing a side to Diane Lane that men have been waiting to see for a long time.
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