Film Reviews

Chloe

• Rating:
• Director: Atom Egoyan.
• Starring: Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, Amanda Seyfried, Max Thieriot.
• Details: US/Canada/France / 96mins (16).

Hot on the heels of his complex drama Adoration, Atom Egoyan offers up the thriller Chloe, a quasi Fatal Attraction spook story. Once again, Egoyan fumbles the ball just as it was getting interesting. A high-class Toronto prostitute, Chloe (Seyfried, Mamma Mia!, Mean Girls) has her talent down to a fine art: she knows instinctively ‘when to touch them, how to touch, how much pressure to apply and when to stop’. She’s not the typical cold prostitute as she tries "to find something to love in everybody." Chloe is offered a different kind of job when gynaecologist Catherine (Moore) approaches her to spy on college professor hubby David (Neeson), whom she suspects of cheating on her. The gig: Chloe is to come on to David but allow him to take the lead, thus reinforcing Catherine’s fears – men are only as faithful as opportunity dictates, right? Chloe is then to report back to Catherine. However, the strangest thing happens: Catherine gets turned on by Chloe’s tales of passion with David and finds herself attracted to her. Chloe feels the same but where can this go? A remake of the 2002 French thriller, Nathalie, rewritten by Secretary scribe Erin Cressida Wilson, Chloe’s exploration into trust and sexuality is satisfied to barely scratch the surface. All Egoyan and Cressida Wilson come up with is that the grass is never greener, perfection doesn’t exist, smoking is bad for you, two plus two is four. There is nothing new to be learned here, as Egoyan seems only to be in interested in descending into a trashy and obvious twist. The film is rather staid and self-important and apart from one scene where Moore and Neeson talk about when they first met and how they used to be together, the characters don’t exist outside the film. Another character - Nesson and Moore’s son (Thieriot) is merely a plot device that comes in handy later on. Moore, Neeson and Seyfried, to their credit, do their best with the one-dimensional characters they have to play. What is interesting is that Egoyan discovers deep flaws in the beauty: the Toronto streets are covered in snow, but the snow looks dirty and is more sleet and slush; Seyfried is beautiful, yes, and looks like a ’40s movie starlet here, but there’s a profound sadness in her eyes; Catherine and David’s home is a work of art but all the straight lines and shiny surfaces give off a cold sensation. This isn’t enough to save his film, however.

Review by Gavin Burke