Category Archives: Diane Lane

2002 Films, Adrian Lyne, Diane Lane, Michael Emerson, Richard Gere, Thriller

Unfaithful-2002

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Unfaithful-2002

Director Adrian Lyne

Starring Diane Lane, Richard Gere, Olivier Martinez

Scott’s Review #1,278

Reviewed July 21, 2022

Grade: A-

Unfaithful (2002) is an American version of the brilliant 1969 French film The Unfaithful Wife, directed by Claude Chabrol.

Directed by Adrian Lyne, most famous for directing the smoldering and creepy Fatal Attraction (1987) which awarded him an Academy Award nomination in the direction category, Unfaithful is unsurprisingly brimming with the same eroticism and sexual ferocity.

What’s exceptional about it is the character development and the empathy felt for the characters and their convictions.

This makes Unfaithful work.

To say it’s watered down from the Chabrol version is a bit unfair because it has an identity all its own, though his version is superior in suspense and naturally, more French from a cinematic perspective.

Lyne’s film is slicker and wrapped up tighter, and much more mainstream-it does the job well and provides compelling entertainment.

In both films, the subject matter of guilt runs rampant.

Edward (Richard Gere) and Connie (Diane Lane) live seemingly happily in their upper-middle-class Westchester County, New York neighborhood.

When Edward learns that Connie has lied to him about an affair, suspicion leads him to uncover the devastating truth about her infidelity with Paul. (Olivier Martinez) the hunky man who has captured her heart.

He confronts Connie’s ‘boy toy’ which results in a deadly accident caused by Edward’s surprising rage. Edward must cover up the truth with detectives questioning both him and Connie about their involvement with Paul.

Can their marriage survive the damage?

The Hallmark television movie premise rises to tremendous credibility thanks to the fantastic acting by Lane, Gere, and Martinez.

The standout is Lane who the audience may relate to a bit more than the other two. She fills Connie with a tired and weary tone. She appreciates her good life but is nonetheless bored with it.

Some may relate to her, but others will shame her for her infidelity.

Each character provides their motivation for their character actions. The stoic chemistry between Lane and Gere’s characters perfectly balances the lusty dynamic between the Lane and Martinez characters.

Wisely, the story is one that most married couples can deem true. When the romance wanes, sometimes the doldrums result. Connie doesn’t purposefully set out to cheat on Edward but the repetition of raising their eight-year-old son and casserole Wednesdays causes her to seize an unexpected opportunity.

The rainy, windy setup with a sexy young French artist at her fingertips, is smoldering with intrigue. The lusty scenes between Connie and Paul are rich with sex, like when they bathe together and make love in Paul’s hallway.

The titillating chemistry works well.

A clever scene in a coffee shop is daringly good. Connie’s girlfriends drool with delight as Paul walks by them, completely unaware that he is Connie’s new beau. How jealous they’d be if they knew the truth.

The face-off scene between Edward and Paul is shrouded with machismo as both struggle for the upper hand, toying with each other for power.

The tone changes to one of Hitchcockian intrigue as Edward and Connie must forge together and cover up their actions. Not trusting each other, there is an interesting dynamic among themselves and what they tell and keep hidden from the flocking detectives.

After all, an upstanding white couple couldn’t possibly be involved in murder, could they, the detectives ponder?

Easily serving as the opening act to the more famous Lyne offering, Fatal Attraction, Unfaithful (2002) both films draw parallels to each other.

They successfully manipulate the audience in a good way, using intrigue, thrills, and flesh to elicit a ‘glued to their seats’ result.

Sometimes a good, old-fashioned, thrill ride is just what the doctor ordered.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress-Diane Lane

2015 Films, Biography, Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Drama, Elle Fanning, Helen Mirren, Jay Roach, John Goodman, Louis C.K., Michael Stuhlbarg

Trumbo-2015

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Trumbo-2015

Director Jay Roach

Starring Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane

Scott’s Review #449

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Reviewed July 11, 2016

Grade: B+

Trumbo, starring Bryan Cranston, who is suddenly in everything these days, is a 2015 biography drama about Dalton Trumbo, a famed, talented Hollywood screenwriter blacklisted in the 1950s.

Cranston is center stage in the film, and very good.

The film has a crisp, glossy look and excited me with its ode to old Hollywood and its mixture of real-life interspersed newsreels.

Great stuff for a classic film buff!

The sets, costumes, and art direction travel back to the 1940s and 1950s, but throughout I had a constant feeling of a modern film dressed to resemble an older one and never felt true authenticity.

Still, good effort and a well above-average Hollywood film.

A treat for cinema lovers or even those folks interested in seeing some classic black-and-white footage- a young Ronald Reagan is seen testifying, presumably against those feared to be communists.

Following World War II there was panic throughout the United States, including liberal Hollywood, to oust anyone with thinking deemed “un-American”.

If this sounds like a dated way of thinking now, the United States was not always as diverse as in 2016.

The infamous “Hollywood 10”, included ten screenwriters who were Communists, or at least had communist beliefs and sympathies. The story in Trumbo focuses on Dalton Trumbo, a quirky screenwriter, always with a classy cigarette, and holder, in hand.

His story is told and the audience sees his passion for fairness in the United States. He sees nothing wrong with being a communist.

The supporting characters are excellent. John Goodman, in the role of Frank King, B movie director, who gives Trumbo a chance to write under a pseudonym, and Helen Mirren and David James Elliott, as villainous Hedda Hopper and John Wayne, respectively.

Diane Lane could have been given more to do as the loyal wife of Trumbo, but sadly, Hollywood is not a woman’s world.

If I were to have any criticism of this film it is that Trumbo is mainstream fare and not high on the edgy factor, which is only a mild complaint.

There is nothing wrong with that, but the film screams Hollywood branded.

For instance, throughout Trumbo’s two-year prison sentence, he faces no real threats, no beatings, no abuse, nothing. He emerges from prison with a few gray hairs and life goes on. When Trumbo’s friend battles, and finally succumbs to lung cancer, there are no long-suffering scenes, making the film on the soft side.

Again, an observation of the type of film Trumbo is more than a complaint.

The scenes of Trumbo with his three children as the film periodically ages the children with older actors are touching, especially scenes with his oldest daughter, Nikola, are sweet. She grows up to be just like her father.

Trumbo earnestly explains to young Nikola, why he is a communist and asks what she would do if someone else was without food- her response is to share- a simplistic and sweet scene.

Ah, through the eyes of a child, the world is so innocent.

Trumbo goes back to the Hollywood of old- clean, glamorous, and extravagant, both in the film and the retro use of old footage.

It is a nonthreatening film that explains the story of Dalton Trumbo in a safe, thorough way.

I enjoyed it tremendously.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actor-Bryan Cranston

2015 Films, Amy Poehler, Animated, Best Animated Feature Oscar Winners, Bill Hader, Bobby Moynihan, Children, Diane Lane, Disney, Flea, John Ratzenberger, Kyle MacLachlan, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Paula Poundstone, Pete Docter, Phyllis Smith, Rashida Jones, Richard Kind

Inside Out-2015

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Inside Out-2015

Director Pete Docter

Starring Amy Poehler, Diane Lane

Scott’s Review #272

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Reviewed September 8, 2015

Grade: B+

Frequently, when I view a modern animated feature, (and by contemporary, I mean 1990 and beyond), I am either bored or left with a “meh” feeling, or both. It seems the trend is “Let’s create a manufactured film that will appeal to kids who will drag their parents to it”.

It is almost as if mediocrity is accepted in the animated film, but Inside Out (2015) challenges this trend with a thoughtful, interesting slab of story.

With this latest Pixar offering, we find a refreshing, intelligent film that makes the viewer think, containing a genuine cute factor, with lots of colors and interesting animation interspersed throughout.

Our story finds eleven-year-old Riley Anderson, and her five different personalities, working within her brain in unison. The emotions are five distinct little people representing (and named) Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Fear, and Anger. They overlap, conflict, and humorously strive to take control of Riley’s mind and thought processes.

Joy is central, and the happiest of emotions. They all live in Riley’s conscious mind, named Headquarters.

One day, Riley and her family pack up and move from Minnesota to the unknown and overwhelming city of San Francisco to capitalize on a job opportunity offered to Riley’s father.

The city is bustling and the family is thrown for a loop. Riley in particular has difficulty adjusting to this vastly different world and finds herself friendless and acting out of character.

Sadness accidentally begins touching other emotions within Riley’s mind, which sets off strange emotions causing her to behave erratically and become irritable.

Joy and Sadness struggle to return to Headquarters and fix the issues.

Inside Out is a complex animated film and will go way above the heads of many youngsters who will undoubtedly see it.

I find this rather refreshing.

It is a coming-of-age tale for adults and mature kids that challenges its audience rather than spitting out a retread or formulaic family story that we have seen countless times.

Riley and her parents are arguably supporting players in the story, taking a back seat to the small, interesting creatures in Riley’s mind. Her mind is a carnival of riches and cool characters emerge. I smiled as more characters were introduced. Riley’s imaginary friend from years ago, Bing Bong, was pulled to the forefront of her emotions, as he was sadly forgotten in her mind.

Who cannot relate to this? A childhood ritual of creating a friend.

I adored the trip through Riley’s mind and marveled at the revelation of the inner workings of her mind, with creative colors and bright interesting lights.

What a super-cool adventure for a young film lover to experience! Inside Out is quite sophisticated.

The main concern is the level of patience that this film requires. It is not a force-fed story but encourages one to experience and feel.

Touching scenes prevail, but the message I receive from Inside Out is important. A multitude of emotions in every human being is normal and the way the film shows them overlap and work together is ingenious. Nobody is one emotion, nor should they be as the movie promotes successfully.

Human beings are meant to feel.

The film also contains humor. I laughed out loud when one character saw a button labeled “puberty” and assumed it was unimportant. This inside joke is also alluded to after the film- a sequel perhaps? Since Riley is only eleven, puberty will be a natural progression.

Inside Out challenges the norm in animated films and entices audiences to think. It feels genuine, which is impressive in itself. It is sentimental without feeling contrived or corny.

The film succeeds on many levels.

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-Best Original Screenplay, Best Animated Feature Film (won)