Customer Reviews

Afterglow

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A slow, intelligent and witty film, Afterglow is perhaps one of the better testament about falling out of love and back. Julie Christie gives a moving performance as a washed-up actress looking back at her heydays and wondering where it all went. Nick Nolte playing her philandering husband certainly displays his devilish charm that makes him both irresistible in movies and in real life. But perhaps one of the most understated roles is that of Lara Flynn Boyle. She plays the dissatisfied housewife looking for a little sexual excitement that her husband (Johnny Miller) has failed to give her. She's quirky, sexy, and wonderful to watch. For anybody who wants to see a moving and wonderful love story, they should really see this film.

Ok, so it took my second attempt to see it all the way through, but boy was it worth it! Christie is magical in her portrayal. Not to be missed. Not for one seeking a creampuff light romance.

Here's Julie Christie more beautiful, more enchanting, sexier than she has been since her role in Doctor Zhivago thirty years ago. She's an ageless wonder, delicate and sweet while also being smart and tough. Her performance as Phyllis Mann, a washed up B-Movie actress is entrancing, so much so that when viewing the film, I found myself ignoring the other actors while she was on screen. I couldn't take my eyes from her for a moment, though that's no slander at her co-stars. Nick Nolte is as watchable and likable as ever as Christie's philandering husband. Lara Flynn Boyle and Johnny Lee Miller have never really been my cup of tea, but perform complex parts with admirable skill. They are a young couple with all the material possessions in the world but separated by an emotional iciness between them. Boyle wants a child while Miller does not, so she turns to handyman Nolte. Miller happens to meet Christie and becomes fascinated by her while she allows herself to be seduced as much out of revenge as curiosity. The film is stylishly directed by Alan Rudolph and I give special credit to cinematographer Toyomichi Kurita for his excellent camera work, though I envy him for getting to stare through his lens every day to see Julie Christie before him. A touching film with fine performances all around, with Christie the standout(yet again).

Once again, Alan Rudolph shows why he is one of the best directors working in film. As a result of superb casting, a wonderful script, and gorgeous photography, he has managed to capture once again the contradictions of modern life and love. Immensely entertaining, this film picks up where his "Love at Large" left off. This film will entertain everyone with its sense of joie de vivre and irony.

Julie Christie can convey more emotions with a single glance, or a drag from a cigarette, than any actress in recent cinema history. Pity that we do not see more of her on the screen, and how sad it is that she lost the Academy Award to Helen Hunt in her "made-for-TV" performance in "As Good As It Gets." Fine performances by the ensemble cast.

.......is how I am going to review this as everyone else was when this came out. It certainly is a worthy film, very complex and truthful and there are some good scenes but it comes across as a stylish but rather dull piece.

Julie Christie is very good though and it is a shame that her performance was ignored nationwide in the UK.

It revolves around two unhappily married couples, a young one and a middle aged one. Or rather it revolves round the latter couple as they are more interesting and where the story really lies as Alan Rudolph makes it very clear.

Having gotten pregnant by another man whilst making a film, Phyllis Mann has had to suffer the consequences. After her daughter found out the truth about her paternity she ran away and her parents followed in vain to find her. In the meanwhile Phyllis, who cannot bring herself to sleep with her husband allows Lucky Mann to have affairs which inevitably puts a strain on their marriage.

In the meantime the very silly and irritating Marianne Byron wants a baby even though her nasty workaholic husband Jeffrey blatantly does not. He also has a tendancy to other women only unlike Lucky, he likes older women. So can you imagine what's going to happen when he meets the frustrated Phyllis and his wife mets the red hot-blooded Lucky? Course you can.

Rudolph successfully makes us have no sympathy with the younger couple and get intrigued in the older couple's affair and the interplay between Nolte and Christie is terrific. Yet it moves so slowly and lacks that lucklustre needed at various points throughout the flick.

As I said before, it is a mixed bag. The ending is excellent though.

I rented this video as I like the combination of Nick Nolte and and especially Julie Christie who we do not see much of these days. But this is a relaxing movie definitely an afterglow over a bottle of red wine. I thought the acting was good and the film had a relaxed feel about it but never boring. Overall if you wish to see a leisurely well acted film on perhaps a moonlit evening then this is for you. Julie Christie has never been this good since "Don't look now".

i love the dielect between the characters and the whole stor

I don't get giving this film 2 stars. 3, I could understand. 4 is more like it.....

IMO, Nick Nolte is under-rated, & totally nails every role he's ever been in. Julie Christie is a Film Goddess, & I would watch her.....well, if there were a movie of Julie Christie clipping her toenails, I'd watch it over & over. And Lara Flynn Boyle is just as sexy & smart as she was in "Twin Peaks", only more so.

Is the movie perfect? No, but, it's close. If you love kind of off-beat films, or love Julie Christie, you need to see this, & maybe own it.

I thought the movie was great overall. The story is very deep and moving, nicely woven, and even though Nick Nolte might not have had the 'sexy' look required for his part, I think he more than compensated for it with his aura. The movie engages you from start to finish and Julie Christie was amazing. Rent it, especially if you're in the mood for something romantic, yet different in its take from a lot of what is out there today.