The appropriately titled Unfaithful is the latest from director Adrian Lyne, a person who likes to give us films that are both erotic and sometimes thought-provoking. His works include Indecent Proposal, Fatal Attraction, and 91/2 Weeks. Unfaithful is really not that different from his standard work, although this is a slow moving play of unfaithfulness with an entirely different twist.
Connie Sumner (Diane Lane) is seemingly happily married to her wealthy businessman husband Edward (Richard Gere). There are no signs of unhappiness in what we see, although there are plenty of indications of routine. Then, one windy day the routine is broken and while Connie is in the City for a fundraising trip, she literally runs into a tall well built sensual French man. His name is Paul Martel (Olivier Martinez), a used book dealer. He gives Connie a book with his card in it, treats her sensually and she decides to call the number on the card. As the title of the film indicates, what follows is marital infidelity at it's best. If that comment doesn't make sense, you have to see this film. The sex scenes are steamy, erotic, and downright nasty. This would be a great soft-core porn film if there were not more to the movie. And there is definitely more to the movie, but not a lot.
The acting is quite good in this film, especially from Diane Lane. She really heats up the screen with her performance here. Gere is good as usual, quite convincing as the betrayed and hurt husband. Olivier Martinez is moderately annoying as the generically cute foreign guy with nothing more than a physical presence.
The story driving the film revolves around the action that has been here, the act of unfaithfulness - and the consequences. In 1987 it was a crazy woman Michael Douglas got involved with and in this film there is a different twist. The movie itself seems to move as though in a dreamscape (those of you familiar with Lyne's other movies will know what I mean). It drags a bit; there is not a degree of suspense or shock. When something major actually happens, you are not that surprised, by the time it happens you were expecting it to happen. So from an entertainment standpoint, it lacks excitement and is a little slow. From an artistic viewpoint, Unfaithful is an excellently directed film with a class act performance from Lane. The films inconclusive ending will leave the conventional moviegoer perturbed and guessing, while critics will give it kudos for not spoon-feeding us the entire story.
Unfaithful is a highly erotic slow moving morality play about lies, deceit, and sex. It looks good but feels slow. Well directed and acted, this movie will do very well with the over 40 crowd and put the under 30 audience to sleep (after getting them very sexually stimulated!).
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