The Two Faces of January. Film review.

                      The Two Faces of January. Film Review.

"Truth is we're joined at the hips. I get caught, I take you down. You get caught, you turn me in."


If you're a fan of Hitchcock or Patricia Highsmith and love psychological thrillers, this film is for you. I'm sure you're familiar with the Ripley books by Highsmith so you'll find similar underlying themes with fraudsters, murders and of course, men on the run!

For well-known screenwriter Hossein Amini, this was to prove a successful directorial debut joining the prolific ranks of Clement, Hitchcock and Minghella, reminding us of the thrill and tension, on the edge of your seat tension that is characteristic of this genre. Where Amini excels is in conveying subtle and unspoken tension particularly with the Alpha males sparring over Colette. The cold-hearted stares and the grimaces will give you the creeps followed by the profanities and the scuffles.

The title of the film alludes to the two faces of Janus, the Roman God, one face looking to the future, the other to the past. We are told about the mythical tale of Theseus and the minotaur from the two main characters who seem to be on a sight-seeing tour of the Acropolis in Athens, laying early foundations of a tragedy in the making. The third character is a tourist guide and he relishes the opportunity to tell some besotted female tourists about this tragic story.
Chester Macfarland is played by Viggo Mortensen of Lord of the Rings fame. Remember Aragorn with the long hair? Mortensen has been described by critic Odie Henderson as "dangerously sexy and morally dubious." He is a 42 year old wealthy American financier who seems to have recently wedded wife number 2-another glamorous and beautiful blonde, 25 but relatively poor, played by Kirsten Dunst. (Interview with the Vampire, Spiderman 1 and 2.)


Chester reads from a tourist guide, the mood seems happy and the couple are relaxed as they stroll around the Acropolis as if they didn’t have a care in the world. But looks can be deceptive, can’t they? Rydal Keener, a Greek speaking American, who majored in Economics from Yale played by hunky Oscar Isaac ( Guerilla, the t.v. series Law and Order and Body of Lies) is a tourist guide and a poet. He is interested in Chester because he reminds him of his late father although he is more interested in Colette as a sexual playmate.
Rydal flirts with the young female tourists, in particular Lauren van Buren who is meant to be related to the 8th President and then takes advantage of them by scamming them, something that Chester seems aware of. Colette tells her husband that she likes Rydal and there are hints of her promiscuity further afield. Chester is insanely jealous and once he starts knocking back the whisky he becomes a dangerous man. Colette assures Chester that her interest in Rydal is non-sexual, however no-one believes her! Once you feel the chemistry between the two you’ll understand what I mean.

Things come to a head when a private detective finally catches up with Chester.
“I thought you said no-one would follow us?” asks Colette, alarmed when a strange man storms into their hotel room whilst indulging in some horse-play. We learn that Chester has been mixed up with Canadian oil shares. “He sold them shares in an oil field that didn’t exist. Them and hundreds of other people.” So, pay-back time it is!

“You reimburse my clients, I’ll go back home to my family and leave your lovely wife and you alone.” Fair enough. This is when we start to realise the truth about Chester MacFarland and why he is on the run and unable to return to the States with his young wife. Chester wants to cut a deal before a scuffle breaks out-the first of many.

Rydal makes an appearance at an inopportune moment and unwittingly become an accomplice to a crime, jeopardising what is left of his shaky integrity and compromising his position completely. In Chester’s own words he refers to him as a “right criminal.” From then onwards we know that things can only get worse. Avoiding arrest is the name of the game.
The backdrop of Athens, Crete and Istanbul, Turkey add to the charm of this thriller, a good script and first-class acting. Does anyone survive or do they all go down? Find out.

REVIEW it by Carol Naylor.

Copyright 2015. Permission must be obtained from the author before any of this article review is reproduced.


Comments

  1. Nik Morton25 January 2015 at 07:33

    Carol, I've got the book but haven't read it yet (!) and your review impels me to correct that oversight soon! Plus I think I'll be getting the film too. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Carol Naylor25 January 2015 at 09:21

    I thoroughly enjoyed the film and the director's input.

    ReplyDelete

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