Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams dazzle in Nocturnal Animals
Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Aaron Taylor-johnson, Armie Hammer, Michael Shannon
THE PLOT In the present day, LA art gallery owner Susan (Adams) confronts her empty marriage to handsome, philandering Hutton (Hammer). In flashback, we see Susan’s courtship of, and early marriage to, impoverished writer Edward (Gyllenhaal). Connecting the two are the dramatic events of a novel Edward has sent to his ex-wife, which she voraciously reads and imagines.
WHAT'S RIGHT WITH IT? It’s incredibly gripping and cleverly layered. While Adams brings emotional heft to her storylines past and present, it’s the events of Edward’s violent thriller (which shares a title with this film) that rivet. A man (also Gyllenhaal), driving through rural West Texas with his wife (Isla Fisher) and teenage daughter, is menaced by three local rednecks. A twisty saga of revenge and redemption – also involving a local cop (Shannon) – ensues. Bonus treat: while Aaron Taylor-johnson sure is unlikely casting as a Texan lowlife, he’s brilliantly convincing as the manipulative criminal who meets his match.
WHAT'S WRONG WITH IT?
Be advised: the lurid events of Edward’s novel are certainly upsetting.
VERDICT Fashion designer Tom Ford already demonstrated a flair for filmmaking with his directing debut but his focus on aesthetic detail rather worked against the raw emotion of his sombre story. Now he has found rich, pulpy material that’s a perfect fit for his bravura style: an ambitious, spectacularly achieved film that should get Oscar voters salivating.
Charles Gant