Chloe
Director: Atom Egoyan
With: Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, Amanda Seyfried
I have been a fan of Egoyan since I saw his first movie released in the USA, The Adjuster, in 1991. He has gotten more skillful in most aspects of film-making, especially the sheer beauty of the visuals. Almost any frame from his movies could be hung as a picture.
Even in a movie like The Sweet Hereafter (1997), which I admired more than liked, the visuals were gorgeous and the story was involving, even if it failed to convince me. Egoyan has a bent for the psychosexual melodrama, how one’s life can be twisted out of shape by an obsession with an inappropriate object of desire.
Some of these films (Exotica, 1994) have been fascinating and uncomfortable to watch, like he was looking into the dark places in your mind. Chloe attempts to be this kind of movie, but I think Egoyan has been too many times to this well. It is near dry.
Some of it works well, but the whole thing is just Egoyan stealing from himself, as well as adapting the 2004 French film Nathalie. Catherine (Moore) is a gynecologist who advises her patients on their sexual health while suffering insecurity and fear of aging in her own personal life. She is married to David (Neeson), a college professor who is constantly in the company of adoring coeds half his age, and is not above socializing with them on the sly.
In a desperate attempt to catch David at being unfaithful, Catherine hires Chloe (Seyfried), a young prostitute, to seduce her husband. After each encounter, Catherine makes Chloe describe the event in clinical detail. Catherine grows more agitated with each telling and more dependent on Chloe for emotional support.
And, therein lies the Egoyan touch. Catherine is seduced by Chloe, and a triangle ensues. Or, does it? What and how much is real, what is Catherine’s fevered imagination, and how much is Chloe lying?
Okay, the set-up is classic erotic thriller, but the payoff is trite and beneath Egoyan’s best work. Not that you will fail to be aroused by the love scenes, or not be impressed by Moore’s stunning performance as an unhinged woman done in by her own devices, just that the whole thing doesn’t play out in an emotionally or dramatically satisfying way.
One more thing. Seyfried has been on the verge of major stardom for a while. She has been held back by her wide-eyed, ethereal/sensual ingénue looks and by roles in questionable movies. When I reviewed Jennifer’s Body (2009), a crass star vehicle for Megan Fox, I said that the film really belonged to Seyfried, that she was the real deal and only needed the right material to break through. Working with Egoyan is certainly a big step in that direction. Many actors have been held back by their looks and not taken seriously for their abilities. Seyfried is very good in this movie, and able to convey a complex character whose true motivations are hidden by a blank surface. I wish her luck.
B-