A Single Man

Colin Firth plays George Falconer, a British college professor in 1960s Los Angeles who has just lost his partner of 16 years in a fatal car crash.  It's been 8 months since the accident and George is still reeling from his lover's death.  Matthew Goode plays George's partner, Jim, in flashbacks that show the pair in various stages of coupledom, from sitting together on the couch reading and listening to records, to how they first met.  It's these quiet moments of watching George and Jim doing the most mundane activities that couples do that are the most effective.  Firth is pitch-perfect playing George as a serious, introspective man.  We see George's pain in every glance from Firth, every slight downturn of his mouth.  Firth plays George with incredible restraint, because George himself must be restrained with his emotions; during this period gay men were still closeted, even in L.A., and it is all the more excruciating for George that he must grieve in silence.  The only person he can outwardly share his pain with is his best friend Charlotte (played by the radiant Julianne Moore), a boozy divorcée who drinks to ease the pain of being alone.  First-time director Tom Ford brings his own distinctive style to the film.  He uses an interesting technique (so subtle at first I thought I imagined it) of making the colors on the screen more vivid whenever George is talking to someone, possibly as a metaphor that the only times George is still able to feel alive are during his interactions with others.  As a very well-established fashion designer I think I expected something flashier from Ford, but instead he approached the story (for which he also co-wrote the adapted screenplay) with a delicate manner which was well-suited to the film.  Speaking of suits, Ford of course lends his designs to the wardrobe; George is always impeccably dressed and his perfectly-tailored suits are just another layer of armor to protect himself from the outside world.  George is so reserved and guarded that it is a breath of fresh air when we see him finally have an outburst of emotion, and you almost feel privileged to have caught a glimpse of insight into this single man’s life.


4 out of 5 stars