A SINGLE MAN (2009) ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: Tom Ford
Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult,
Matthew Goode, Jon Kortajarena, Paulette Lamori
Colin Firth, looking strangely a lot like Nelson Rockefeller, plays George Falconer, a gay English professor coming apart in the wake of his longtime lover's unexpected death. The year is 1962 - the Cuban Missile Crisis is playing out in the background - and for men like George, being closeted isn't an option. It's a fact of life. Firth, who plays several key scenes in tight close-up, gives a wrenching performance, showing the anguish of a man trying desperately not to let his anguish show, and Ford's visual style has a nice way of showing the world from George's vantage point. When he's checking out a cute young guy, there's no doubt what he's looking at, because that's what you're looking at, too. The flashbacks tend to be in bright colors or black and white, with more muted tones for the later scenes. And the straight neighbors across the street are shot in gauzy slow motion, reinforcing the professor's sense of isolation. He's as closed off from their world as they are from his.
