Hello again, and why is it so hard for me to actually start writing? First, a warning: I will be spoiling the ending and other plot points. I’ve only spoiled the ending of Real Steel so far, but we could all see that coming. And if you liked the movie, you didn’t care. I do recommend this beautiful film, if you want to go in blind then come back and read this. So, I saw A Single Man was leaving Netflix, and I decided to try out this Coen Brothers movie about a Jewish man facing life’s trials. Then I realized that was A Simple Man, released the same year. But it was actually called A Serious Man. I must have been thinking about A Simple Plan, an excellent, taut little late ‘90s drama about “decent” people getting caught up in crime and greed. It wouldn’t surprise me if Vince Gilligan saw it and took some notes before making Breaking Bad.
A Single Man starred Colin Firth as a gay man in the ‘60s facing devastating loss. Colin Firth is one of those actors with talent, charisma and presence, and then add heaps of hotness on top of that. Just look at the opening gif. I assume the gif maker added the words, and that was not a line of dialogue spoken by Mr. Darcy in the miniseries. I know the qualities I listed can be found in actors all over the world, but it seems like England just keeps pumping them out. Like, where the hell did Jodie Comer come from?! *checks Wikipedia* Oh, same place as The Beatles. Colin is an actor I greatly respect, admire and extol, and I have ... barely seen any of his work before this film. I watched like half the first Kingsman movie somewhere. And he did host SNL at a time when I never missed it. In one of the dress rehearsal cuts, Rachel Dratch’s Jane Eyre was oblivious to Mr. Rochester having crazy attic sex with first wife Maya Rudolph. They showed the sketch the next year with Jude Law as Rochester, and it was memorable, but I’d kill to see Firth in the role. I do remember Firth in the last sketch doing a low-key absurd Liam Neeson impression, presenting the worst film about Jesus ever made, starring one Benjamin Alfred Hill. *cue Yakety Sax* Sadly, I could not find this sketch online.
Tom Ford made the move from fashion designer to writer and director with this movie. I remember Souse Chef mentioning Ford a couple of times in the comments here, while we were gossiping about House of Gucci. Ford may have single-handedly turned Gucci’s fortunes around with amazing design work and provocative marketing. But I’ll have to take Wikipedia and other people’s word on that, because I know nothing about fashion. I think wearing Catholic school uniforms through eighth grade may have contributed to my disinterest, but maybe I was relieved to not have to choose a new outfit every day. By the way, why is it an insult to tell a kid “Does your mom dress you?” Unlike me, my mom has style and taste, and if she didn’t know anything about the cool new trends, I sure as hell didn’t either. If I took advice from my mom on how to dress to impress women (the only reason I’d care about fashion), and then took fashion advice from some douchebro, I’m sure I’d do better following Mom. Maybe the Ed Hardy tees and trucker hats get me laid more, but Mom scores me quality. Oh, and I’m looking to buy a suit in downtown Milwaukee. If Souse or any other locals have any suggestions, meet me in the comments.
With a fashion designer behind the camera, I fully expected the film to look good. I wasn’t so sure Ford could handle such an emotionally complex story, with a lot going on beneath the surface. Maybe that’s an insulting assumption. But Ford is clearly a talented, ambitious artist, and people like him are ready and willing to prove themselves. With Colin Firth as his star, he delivers. The film opens with Firth’s lit professor George alone and drowning. It’s a poetic image, but also a little pretentious, and heavy handed as a metaphor for how George feels. But any pretentiousness is offset by George’s wry sense of humor, heard in voice over as he goes about his day. A day where he’s making plans to kill himself.
George’s longtime lover Jim was killed in a car accident months ago. Thanks to a number of effectively used flashbacks, we see both the highs of George and Jim’s coupledom, and the lows of the devastating aftermath. George and Jim meet cute at a bar (very cute in Matthew Goode’s case; Jim is on leave from the Navy). Their chemistry is palpable, obliterating any potential problems such as Jim’s disapproving parents and the age difference. They settle down into domestic bliss, but the spark is always there. That the accident happens on the way to Jim visiting his hateful mother is a cruel twist of fate. In a particularly devastating scene, George receives a call from Jim’s cousin, who’s going behind the parents’ backs to deliver the tragic news. George, barely keeping it together, asks about the funeral service. It’s for family only, and there’s a whole mountain left unsaid right there. And then George asks about the dogs traveling with Jim, and hears one was found dead at the scene and the other missing. Yes, George has to deal with the loss of his lover and their beloved smooth fox terriers. The preparations we see for his suicide are making more and more sense.
So, in between preparing his will and goodbye letters, hiding money for his maid to find, and buying bullets for his gun, George goes on about his day. He makes plans with his old friend Charley to get together for dinner. Charley, short for Charlotte and played by Julianne Moore, is clearly Grace to George’s Will. When he gets to Charley’s house, she is flirty, flighty, brash, boozy, and quite vain. But this isn’t all there is to her. After that phone call, we saw a newly-devastated George run to Charley’s house in the rain and wordlessly collapse into her arms. She was clearly the only person in the world who could comfort George in his grief. In present time, George and Charley drink, dance, and reminisce about old times and loves. Then Charley does the unthinkable: she asks why she and George couldn’t have had a real relationship together, implying he never had that with Jim. George is incensed, they argue and hurl insults, and I honestly thought George’s most important relationship had been destroyed right before his suicide. Then they ended up on the floor, smoking and consoling each other. It’s clear this scene has played out before, and it’s just the price George and Charley pay for their dear friendship. And while George early on makes a we-see-that’s-awful joke about smoking and how it’s not gonna kill him, it gets really dark late. Charley asks George about his weekend plans, and he says he might just be very quiet.
Then there’s Kenny, an intense student in George’s class played by Nicholas Hoult. Every time we see him next to his own Charley (a constantly-smoking blonde named Lois), Kenny is ignoring her and staring at George. He stalks George on campus, pries his address from his secretary, and even corners George at the same local bar where he and Jim met. Oh, and Kenny is also a callow fellow with an overly-dramatic philosophy of life. Why does George humor him? Kenny does show genuine bits of concern for George’s well-being. And Kenny is ... you know how you see a child actor and when they grow up, you’re a little ashamed to notice how attractive they are now? Well, there’s just no denying that the kid from About A Boy turned out super fine. Kenny actually successfully dares George into skinny dipping in the ocean. And that opening drowning scene is revealed to be a flash-forward, as George is overcome by a wave and starts sinking. Kenny is there to pull him to safety, and they retire to George’s house.
George and Kenny talk, flirt, and share beers. George is a little embarrassed, because that age gap between him and Jim is nothing compared to the present one. Kenny is even calling him “sir”. Still, George is enjoying himself right up until he nods off. When he wakes up, he sees Kenny is now asleep on the couch, cradling the gun under a blanket. Seems Kenny snooped around the house, found the gun and other clues, and wanted to keep George from killing himself. George is touched. Now, he’s not going to fall in love with Kenny. They probably won’t even sleep together. But over the course of the day, George has found some measure of respite from his grief, and rediscovered a glimmer of appreciation for life. He burns the suicide note and letters in the fireplace. And then the heart problem the movie had been hinting at suddenly strikes. It seems a little on-the-nose that George would suffer from a broken heart all movie then die from a heart attack. But if Jim were alive, wouldn’t he be making sure the “old man” he loved looked after his health? Wouldn’t George want to take better care of his heart if he felt he had something to live for? Still, this is a good if premature death for George. He spares Charley and his colleagues the pain of a friend’s suicide, and George dies at peace to a vision of Jim reaching down to kiss him. I was moved by this beautiful little film, and I teared up at times reliving it here.
Thoughts:
- The first thing you see in the credits is The Weinstein Company. Ugh. They did have a reputation for campaigning for Oscar nods for smaller films, so they may have helped Colin Firth get the Best Actor nomination he earned anyway. In fact, that may be the reason I remembered this film and decided to watch it. Colin lost to Jeff Bridges, but the next year, he played a historical figure in a period piece who overcame a disability to help in the war effort against the Nazis. And the Academy couldn’t give him the Oscar fast enough.
- Outside a liquor store, George meets Carlos, who’s a ... let’s say “hustler”. Carlos makes strong eye contact and then makes a move on George. They just enjoy a nice talk. I found myself wondering about his life. Now, we may joke about “gaydar” nowadays, but for a man like Carlos during the ‘60s, I assume it was very important. Seems he would have to calculate the odds that a man was gay and interested in him. And if he was wrong, the odds that the man might then be a problem. So he sees the debonair, well-dressed George, and figures he’s not capable of beating him up because this isn’t Kingsman. And if he could, he might be too classy to do so. But if Carlos sees someone rougher-looking, he may have to take a pass even if he was confident the man was gay.
- Jim’s cousin was voiced by an uncredited Jon Hamm, and I found myself wondering about his life as well. Being curious about the lives of bit players outside the movie is a sign of good storytelling. I can’t put my finger on why, but I have this feeling that he wasn’t happy about Jim being gay and in love with a man. Though not as hateful as Jim’s parents. But at least he contacted George out of respect for his cousin and because it was the right thing to do. And maybe to stick it to his aunt and uncle.
- The film takes place soon after the Cuban Missile Crisis. Which is why a colleague named Grant (Lee Pace) harangues George about the need for a bomb shelter. We then cut to a hilarious shot of Grant smoking a pipe with his nuclear family (get it?) dressed up in their nicest clothes, standing in a bomb shelter surrounded by farm animals. It would have fit right into a Wes Anderson movie.
- In a masterpiece of dark, silent comedy, George takes his gun and tries to find the best place to put it in his mouth and blow his brains out. He tries the bed, but doesn’t seem to want to risk his maid having to clean up. Next is the shower, which is easier to clean, but he pantomimes his body falling backwards and sliding down the wall, and that won’t do either. So back to the bed but in a sleeping bag this time. First he has to wrestle himself into the bag, which we all know can be a struggle, then maneuver the gun into the bag as well. It’s enough to make a man give up on giving up.
- Tom Ford has made one other movie, Nocturnal Animals. A few months ago, a friend raved about the opening scene on Facebook. Without spoiling the scene or the movie in general, is it worth watching?
- George may be heartbroken, but while strolling on campus, he does slow down to admire two shirtless men playing tennis. It’s elegantly filmed, and the only sounds come from the players’ movement, breathing, and the ball hitting rackets. It looked good, but I prefer my homoerotic movie sports scenes to be dumb, macho, and Loggins-soundtracked.
Next up is ... a comedy. I know comedies are 0-2 so far in these columns, but this one has funny people with a decent track record working together, plus an accomplished director making the move to comedy.
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