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Goodbye, Lover/**** (Rated R) Patricia Arquette stars in a film about a triple-crossing love triangle with murder on their minds in this stylish, intricate and delightfully twisted riff on the film noir style made so famous by "Double Indemnity" and its many progeny (most obviously, "Body Heat". What makes this film so enjoyable, is not only watching this perfectly cast film follow the story's many turns, but confronting an ending that even the most ardent noir fan could have anticipated. The story is your basic boy meets girl, girl meets boys brother, brother marries secretary and before you can say Jerry Springer, we are off to delicious acts of murder, cross and double cross. The story begins when we find that Ben Dunmore (Don Johnson), an executive with a PR firm is having an affair with Sandra (Patricia Arquette) a real estate agent. Their choice of rendevous for their coupling boarders on the kinky; in a church organ (which itself becomes the source of an obvious joke later on in the film), one of Sandra's listed homes and the back of a car. This takes a turn when we find out that Sandra is really married to Ben's brother and colleague Jake (Dermot Mulroney). When it appears that Jake has found out and threatens suicide, Ben leaves the romantic evening he had planned with his secretary Peggy (Mary-Lousie Parker) to talk his brother off the ledge. Turns out that Jake and Sandra are really intent on luring him to their apartment to push Ben off the ledge in order to claim a large insurance policy. This would be a simple murder except that it turns out that every one of these players has secret designs on the other until the story unravels itself in an ending that even the most seasoned filmgoer could not have anticipated. I won't spoil the fun by going any further on about the plot. While all concerned delivers well acted performances, what makes this film special, however, is the breakout performance of former television sitcom star Ellen DeGeneres. Less than one year ago; on the heals of her revelation of her sexual orientation, her arm-in-arm appearance at the White House with actress Anne Heche and the homophobic condemnation of the parallel coming-out of her character on her show "Ellen"; she often complained that her career was now over. Yet in the past month she delivered a delightful performance as a network executive in "EdTV" and now as police detective Sgt. Pampano. If these two roles are any indication, Ms. DeGeneres will undoubtedly become one of the breakout stars of the next century. In this role she cuts a wide swath with a mocking tone that not only sends-up the usual stereotypical role of this type of character, but takes it to a new level of portrayal. Paired with a partner, who is seemingly just off the apple cart, she plays with Sandra, Jake and Peggy as she (and the audience) try to make sense of the endless crosses and double-crosses. Most importantly, with this second performance she lays to rest the concern that an out-of-the-closet actor cannot play a wide range of characters. The only bone that I have to pick with Ms. DeGeneres is the fact that as Sgt. Pampano, she constantly questions the sexuality of her partner to the point of being cruel. As someone who is fighting for the rights of the gay and lesbian community, it seems that she should have had a word with the director about some of the film's dialogue. In a time when there are far too many predictable and lazy scripts masquerading as must-see would-be blockbusters filling the theaters, "Goodbye, Lover", delivers a perfectly cast, perfectly plotted and perfectly enjoyable thriller that is of a caliber rarely seen today. Go see it.
Rated R |
