A Single Man (2009)

Genres

Drama, Romance

Director

Tom Ford

Country

USA

Cast

Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Goode, Jon Kortajarena, Paulette Lamori, Ryan Simpkins, Ginnifer Goodwin, Teddy Sears, Paul Butler, Aaron Sanders, Lee Pace, Erin Daniels, Aline Weber

Storyline

After the sudden death of his boyfriend (Matthew Goode), English professor George Falconer (Colin Firth) struggles to cope with his daily life in 1960s Los Angeles. 

Opinion

After being blown away by Tom Ford's Nocturnal Animals, it was only fair of me to watch his directorial debut, A Single Man, which turned out to be a quite brilliant yet flawed drama.

So let's start from the beginning, the story. Based on Christopher Isherwood's novel, it is a powerful and thought-provoking story of a man and his grief; it's a story of love that focuses on the relationship of a man with a woman he once dated and on the relationship of the same man with a way younger man. It's a story of homosexual love that explains, through images, that love is love, no matter who you are.

The truly powerful thing about Ford's film is that it shows that life is enclosed in the small things, in banal daily actions we consider meaningless. It is in these moments that we feel something, that something giving life its meaning. And perhaps those moments are all we are looking/waiting for.

But like I said before, A Single Man isn't perfect. This is subjective, of course,

but I found the film emotionally sterile. It feels cold and detached, it wasn't able to move me.

Not even Colin Firth's performance managed to do that. Although he gives yet another incredible performance as the leading character and delivers his pain beautifully not only through his facial expressions but with his voice as well, the film still lacked an emotional impact. 

But that's really the only complaint I have. Everything else is fine. Visually, the film is stunning, from the cinematography to the sets. And the rest of the cast also does a great job, especially Julianne Moore as Colin Firth's ex-girlfriend and Nicholas Hoult as Firth's young love interest.