Customer Reviews

Forty Shades of Blue

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

 

 

Subtle, nuanced and totally internalized, Ira Sachs' gorgeously evocative Forty Shades of Blue might be a bit too restrained for most audiences. It's a striking and terribly lonely character study of people aching to connect, and a truly delicate story of conflicted and damaged people, all faced with difficult choices.

Rip Torn - who last year probably should have received an Oscar nomination - stars as Alan James, a boozed out, aging Memphis writer/musician and record producer who is having a party in his honor. Alan is a bit of a philanderer and a bit of an egotist. We first meet him just as he is abandoning his gorgeous Russian trophy girlfriend, Laura (Dina Korzun) so he can fool around with another woman in a hotel room.

Laura is well aware of Alan's wayward ways and his penchant for adultery, but as a Russian bride, she's also cognizant of the fact that Alan can give her a life she could only have dreamed of back in Russia. She puts up with his raging, his infidelities, and his temper tantrums because she loves him - she's also full of gratitude - and also because they share a three year old son.

For his part, Alan deeply loves Laura, but his passion is tempered by deep-seated insecurities - he can give her the material, but perhaps not the sexual or spiritual. This is made even more palpable when Alan's handsome English teacher son, Michael (Darren E. Burrows) visits from California.

Michael has problems of his own. Stuck in an unhappy marriage with a newly pregnant wife, he is immediately attracted to Laura; part out of loneliness and probably because he sees in her a similar kind of vulnerability. Michael also freely admits that Alan has been a rotten father, although of late relations have been cordial enough, but it clearly can't have been easy for Michael to have grown up as Alan's son.

As Michael and Laura navigate the treacherous forty shades of blue, both are faced with difficult choices, especially Laura who feels so utterly alone and isolated in her chic life. The performances are astounding - Rip Torn is truly spectacular as the earthy, drunken Alan who lives for the past and yet can't quite quit being self-obsessed and ego-driven.

Director Ira Sachs moves to the rhythms of his native Memphis, teasing poignant significance out of the quiet domesticity of life and really capturing the city's gritty and coarse allure. The movie is full of meaning and muffled yet suggestive moments. You can really feel Laura and Michael being pulled together, they're both well aware of their commitments to their spouses, but just seem to be desperate for each other.

When choices are made and the characters eventually movie on, viewers will be truly left wondering and the impact of the final pivotal scene is absolutely devastating. Laura is so alienated she spends most of her days shopping in upscale malls and boutiques. Self-examination comes hard to her, but when it does the impact is all the more dramatic for it. This movie is absolutely haunting in its spare, stripped-down depiction of lost souls bound together; it is indeed a true masterpiece. Mike Leonard July 06.

This is the best movie I've seen in a long, long time. Rip Torn is perfect for this role; and the actress playing his wife is as well. If you like character studies, the finest cinematography around, the best script writing, excellent directing and feeling like you are a "fly on the wall" in the finest drama you have ever seen---buy this film. It never lets up, it never overdoes, it just gives you exactly what you need. And all without anyone blowing anyone elses brains out!

I love how the story unfolds, the beautiful flawed characters, the simplicity of the performances, every single one. I could feel the strain in the married couple's interactions, as well as hope and perhaps surrender. Rip Torn is fun to watch in this film as well as others, but I was completely blown away by Darren Burrow's performance. (My mind was like, holy cow, that guy played Ed Chigliak in the Northern Exposure series.) Even without the comparison, his performance, restrained and so completely authentic, is over the top, fantastic. The entire film just hits an authentic chord.

"Forty Shades of Blue" features Rip Torn as an acerbic, hard-drinking music producer in Memphis who, though greatly beloved by his fans and the people in the industry, is viewed somewhat differently by those who know him best. Despite his advanced age, he has a gorgeous live-in girlfriend, Laura (Dina Korzun), whom he met while on a business trip to Russia and, even though they seem to be reasonably devoted to one another and their relationship, Laura is becoming increasing morose as a result of his constant philandering. When Alan's married son, Michael (Darren E. Burrows) - who has reasons of his own for resenting the man - comes from California for a visit, he and Laura enter into a secret love affair that forces her to finally question her commitment to Alan and to perhaps cut the chords - both obligatory and emotional - that bind her to him.

Although the script does an effective job capturing the tensions simmering just beneath the surface of the story, the plot itself seems too conventional and too underdeveloped to engage the viewer completely. Still the characters are complex enough and the performances sufficiently layered to at least hold our interest throughout. Torn is particularly good at creating a character whose amiability and likeability on the surface mask a callousness and mean-spiritedness below.

This is a subtle, if not exactly gripping, study of the compromises we make - and the choices we come to regret - in our effort to avoid loneliness and to find meaning and happiness in life.

One of the best movies I've seen in a long, long time. The performances were mesmerizing, especially Dina Korzun as Laura -- she is fantastic, I can't even think of another actress who could have pulled off that performance. My only complaint was that the character of the son's pregnant wife seemed unfishished. This quietly explosive thing is happening in her presence, but she seems oblivious, which just doesn't fit with the fact that she's supposed to be extremely educated/intelligent. (I am neither, but I'm pretty sure I would have figured out something was up.) Anyway, excellent movie -- I highly recommend it.

Forty Shades of Blue is one of those slow movies that will be greatly appreciated by those who enjoy watching actors exercising their craft with subtle precision and a well structured script. On the same token, this film is almost destined to be misunderstood and unappreciated by those looking to be entertained on surface value alone. This story attempts to provide a real portrayal of our three principle characters. As such, we not only get to see them warts and all, it also takes a great deal of time for the importance and meaning of many of their lines to become apparent. So the pleasure of understanding and appreciating the deep undercurrents of this story will only be had by those willing to invest the time in studying the scenes and dialogue and then thinking back upon them after the movie is over.

On the same token, the telling of the story also makes it easy not to take that last additional step of putting yourself in each character's shoes and thinking from their point of view. As the viewer, we have complete knowledge of each character's actions. But the characters do not always have that luxury with each other. It is incredibly instructive to think about things from their perspective and reflect upon how they perceive each other and why they make the decisions that they do.

Ira Sachs has created a movie that will, no doubt, have a cult following among lovers of character studies and movies about the music industry. While little about this movie directly plays up the angle that the protagonist is a musician, his explosive personality and bad habits are synonymous with the musical megalomaniac.

Rip Torn leads the film as Memphis musician and producer Alan James. He's the prototypical alcoholic artist with the huge ego to boot. It would be easy to play this character by the book, but Torn subtly infuses him with life and personality. We feel his character grappling with his mortality, helplessly trying to hold on to anything he can. When his poor choices threaten to alienate his much younger Russian live-in girlfriend Laura, played by Dina Korzun, he is even willing to undergo a metamorphasis, real or imagined, to try to keep her. Korzun also enfuses life into Laura with an understated delivery. She is distant from the pain of Alan's mistreatment and short temper, yet accepting of it, well aware of how her life is materially improved by all that his money and fame provide to her and her three year old son. She seems to love him, but the undercurrent is that she also seems to be slightly aware that she is still attractive but perhaps not as young or beautiful as she once was.

My personal favorite role in the film is that of Alan's son Michael, who is played by Darren E. Burrows. He is an actor I was vaguely familiar with, but in his role here he really shines. He's somewhat resentful of his father, and has clearly worked hard to try to distance himself with his own life choices. He visits from California, where he is making a career for himself as an English teacher and, as his father says, a writer who "gets paid by the word." His own an unhappy relationship and his wife's recent pregnancy provide just enough of a common thread to bond him with Laura.

A large part of this character study deals with the loneliness and alienation that each of those three deals with in their own way. Michael's strained relationship with his father sends the signal that Alan's behavior has not always been as embracing as he attempts to appear. Alan suffers the lonely self-created hell of feeling like nobody can relate to him and the burden of providing falls squarely on his shoulders. And Laura feels the loneliness of having few options and being loved less than desired.

The director Ira Sachs seems to have a great eye for cinematography, and his camera staff must be top notch. The way the characters faces are framed adds intimacy and beauty to many smokey shots.

Much has been made of the closing scene of the film. My personal interpretation centers on rethinking all aspects of the scene from the various points of view of the different characters. I will not spoil the story as some have done, because the devil is in the details. If you watch closely there are a number of reasons why they chose to close the film as they did.

There is some music in the movie, though it seems like music could have been used to greater effect given the character this movie is based on. Here we get the sense that Alan is an *important* figure in the music business, but little direct connection to the music is established. Perhaps, that too, was done intentionally to show how Alan is alienated from his own work. Whatever the reason, we get one scene with him hammering out some formulaic piano over a remixed dub and several of him flying off the handle due to insignificant issues at his studio. This is the only aspect of the story I would have liked to see developed more. We get to see Alan as a man, but not as a music man.

This is a very good movie for those who like character studies and enjoy films of an entertaining vein. There is some good music, though not all of it is good. And the shooting is done beautifully and effectively. Give this film a chance, and do not hesitate to add it to your collection if you are a lover of independent film.

Enjoy.

I don't think I've seen a movie as good, in a long, long time. One of the ironies of life, is that we make some of our largest commitments with our feelings, our "hearts" rather than our minds. This story is about a woman seeking love, letting her heart (and sometimes other parts) make her decisions for her, and it generally destroys her life, and that of the man most committed to her. There aren't any real antagonists to speak of in this story, but there certainly are winners and losers. Is there a better metaphor for life itself?

I started out kinda liking this film. Thought perhaps it would be a 5-star review. However, as it progressed, it quickly went to 4 stars. The acting really bothered me; I thought it was bad, bad, bad. From 4 stars, it went to 3 as the filming made me feel like it was a home movie. Jerky movements, at times almost slow motion, made me think that perhaps it was a defective download. By the time the first hour had passed, I went to 2 stars and couldn't believe I was sticking it out until the end.

None of the characters were sympathetic; I felt they were all a bunch of spoiled brats for different reasons. By the end of the film, I couldn't wait to be rid of them. The plot was badly executed and I drifted several times, wishing I were elsewhere.

And the ending? One of the worst I've ever seen. Sure, there are times when that's just the type of ending that fits the story line. In this case, it made absolutely no sense and sure, I can read all kinds of things that might make it rational, but why bother? The entire film was boring and very poorly done. Waste of time.

I have some pet peeves when it comes to movies. One is movies lacking an ending. This falls into that category. Where one of the featured reviewers referred to the ending in a positive light, I'm not so charitable. Frankly, the ending is artsy and it sucks with a capital S.

We grow involved in the three main characters, wealthy Rip Torn, his young Russian girlfriend, and his son. The two men, father and son, both turn out to be bad luck for the Russian girl. Rip Torn cheats on her constantly, apparently, and his son abandons her after she falls in love with him.

In the end, she walks away. Where is she going? Will she return? She has a son. Will she return to him? Her future is left completely hidden, and that, apparently, is considered artsy. It isn't. It just sucks. Don't lead me along to care about the characters and then just leave it hanging. Basically, to the writer, Eff You. This isn't art. This is crap.

I give it three stars because it was interesting. It deserved more, until the end.

One of the worst movies I've seen. Dialogs are slow and every single performance is emotionless. I did not build any kind of sympathy towards Rip Torn's character or his wife. Yeah, you do get a sense that she's lonely, you do get a sense that he is a has-been still living the life of the rich and famous and you do see his somewhat distant son get it on with his mother-in-law. But might as well read it here as you'll feel no emotion whatsoever finding it out in the movie. The music is the only thing that spares it from being terrible.
This movie is ranked right at the bottom of my list along with Van Sant's Last Days. People seem to overrate these pieces of film waste just because they're different. But my God, you can be different and good, entertaining and thought-provoking.

DO NOT BUY OR RENT!