Movie Review-A Single Man

A Single Man marks a triumphant return to the screen for Colin Firth, whose last few movies (I’m looking at you “Mamma Mia” and “St. Trinians”) have been complete fluff.  In Tom Ford’s devastatingly beautiful and now Oscar “Best Picture” nominee, Firth rises above the occasionally slogging script to fuel the movie’s fire.

           

            Firth plays George, a recently widowed homosexual grasping to get on with his life as a university professor.  He brings to the role the fervor of an actor half his age—it is abundantly clear that this is a project that he felt supremely passionate about.  His passion is understood, his lines rolling off his tongue as if it was a whip, allowing Firth to disappear into the role.  Equal credit must be given to Firth’s supporting lady, Julianne Moore.  Her recently divorced Charley is absolutely heartbreaking and Moore, fresh off a poorly received stint on 30 Rock, is in fine form here.  The way in which her face crumples when she is upset is simultaneously the mark of a brilliant actress and a shattering revelation.  Ford’s decision to have Charley love George unrepentantly is a small stroke of genius—their scenes together are marvelous and near breathtaking.

Praise should also be set aside for the lovely Ginnifer Goodwin (so good on “Big Love” but so cloying in “He’s Just Not That Into You”) who plays “sixties housewife” with grace and charm.  Lee Pace of the now cancelled Pushing Daisies makes a brief but welcome appearance as a fellow professor (might this reviewer be overlooking things in seeing a love come and gone between Firth and Pace’s characters?).  Nicholas Hoult, who played the young Marcus opposite Hugh Grant in About a Boy, shows just how much he has grown (following a provocative role on the BBC hit Skins) in his role as a student of George’s who is completely infatuated with his professor.

            While the script at times runs into clichés and clunky monologs, Ford masterfully commands the movie, steering it to a crushing conclusion.  Ford’s fashion expertise (known primarily as a designer, this is his directorial debut) is abound—the costumes are first rate, as if the characters were born to wear their dazzling clothes, and the sets themselves could walk the runway.  The beautiful lighting expertly blends in with the film.  Firth, broken and haggard, veers in and out of an unflattering shade of gray, while Goodwin and her onscreen children are always bathed in a cheery glow.

            In the end, Ford has created a beautiful piece of art, buoyed by Firth and Moore, the masters of their craft.  Though the film has been labeled an “art house flick,” A Single Man deserves its Oscar moment.