Chloe (Atom Egoyan, 2009): USA

Reviewed by Charlotte Brange. Viewed at Metro 4, at Santa Barbara Film Festival.

On February 11th, Julianne Moore had her very own day. She received the Montecito Award, which is given to an actor/actress that has performed a series of outstanding performances throught his/her career. Chloe is no expection.

Julianne Moore plays Catherine, a doctor who on the outside lives the perfect life. She has beautiful clothes, an enormous house, is happily married to the love of her life and together they have a teenage son. But on the inside, Catherine suspects that her husband David (Liam Neeson), who is a teacher, has an affair with one of his students. Her son barely talks to him and grows up faster than she can imagine. She decides to take matter in her own hands and hires Chloe (Amanda Seyfried), a young escort, to seduce her husband to see his reaction. Catherine is soon involved in a complicated story about sex, lust and honesty.

It starts off with close-ups and clips of Chloe (Seyfried), when she’s getting ready for her work. Make-up, heels, thighs, corset, lipstick, hair. Similar to the beginning of Flying Lessons (2009), but what followed is a far better story than Flying Lessons. Chloe is a triangle-drama and a story I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. It’s unusual but at the same time interesting. I’m not sure how to categorize Chloe, it’s dark, dramatic and mysterious but at the same time easy, with characters with totally normal lives.

Moore, whom I’ve seen as a dominant and confident woman, hence she’s often playing those roles, now tries Catherine, an insecure and confused woman. And she actually does it really convincing. Small things, such as a scene at a restaurant when Catherine finds David a little bit too friendly to the waitress. She goes to the bathroom, releases her hair from her ponytail just to make it look like the waitress’ hairstyle.

Seyfried and Moore have great chemistry and play their roles very well. The camera focus a lot on Seyfried’s big wondering eyes and Moore’s lips which just want to say something she shouldn’t’. The camera work is over all great, and does not spare us when it comes to the sex scenes. Although a lot of sexual content, it’s shot gracefully and with taste. Actually the biggest part of the movie was sole passion, so I can’t see the point of not using it in a movie surrounding sexual tension.

However, the mysterious and sexual content is the movies strongest point. The script might be a little weak, since the story changes a bit too much for it to totally convince me.

Liam Neeson who plays Catherine’s husband went through a hard time during filming of this movie. His wife, actress Natasha Richardson, injured herself during a ski accident and passed away two days later. But Neeson eventually completed the movie, and I actually think it’s sometimes visible to see the pain in his eyes throughout the movie.

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Published:
02.19.10 / 5pm
Category:
Films, Santa Barbara Film Festival 2010