Review: A Single Man

Grade: B-

A Single Man is centered around a homosexual college professor, George Falconer, living in California in 1962. George's lover, Jim, of over 16 years died in a car accident and eight months later, George is still trying to cope with the loss. It is almost physically painful for George to wake up in the morning anymore. As George considers killing himself, he has flashbacks to fond memories of him and Jim, he rekindles a great friendship with an old friend from England and he befriends a young man who feels that George is the only man who understands him.

This movie was just a little too artsy for me. The direction was extremely artsy and the cinematography was all over the place, it's like they couldn't decide how they wanted the movie to look so they went with all of their ideas sporadically throughout the movie. The story, on the other hand, was very good and was told quite well, in my opinion. Some of the dialogue was very emotional. The voice over at the beginning and at the end were pretty good. Some of the flashbacks were interesting and really helped show just how much George and Jim loved each other. I will say though, that the ending really upset me and I am rather upset about it.

Colin Firth (Mamma Mia, Love Actually) plays the central character, George. I can completely understand how Colin Firth was nominated for an Oscar for this performance. Firth's performance is the best part of the movie, it was truly great. Julianne Moore (I'm Not There, Children of Men) played George's old friend from England, Charley. Moore gave an amazing performance and I'm sure that if she was in the movie a little more that she would have earned an Oscar nomination as well. Nicholas Hoult (The Weather Man, About a Boy) plays Kenny, a student of Mr. Falconer's who becomes infatuated with him. Hoult did a great job with this role and shows promise to do bigger and better things. Mathew Goode (Watchmen, Leap Year) plays Jim, George's lover. We don't see Goode much in the movie as he only appears in flashbacks, but his scenes are fantastic.

This movie was pretty good even though it looks weird. It was a bit too artsy for me but the story and acting made up for it. I am glad that I saw it and would recommend people see it for Colin Firth's performance, but it can easily wait until it comes out on DVD.

Great quote: "I looked in the mirror, not a good thing to do on mescaline, and became convinced that my eyebrows were taking over my face, so I took a razor to one of them."