Don't let the Laurel-and-Hardy trailer fool you, "Afterglow" is no mere flighty sex farce, though it does have the classic two couples pairing with the wrong
people and finding out. The two couples are Lucky Mann (ouch!) played by a leonine Nick Nolte and his wife Phyllis, played by the feline Julie Christie, and the young yuppie whiners Jeoffrey (Jonny Lee
Miller) and Marianne Byron (Lara Flynn Boyle). "Afterglow" has the feel and pace of a French sex comedy, and this European sensibility is heightened by the Montreal locale and French phrases speckled
throughout the film. "Afterglow" appears to be a typical film about an older couple drifting apart and a midlife and youth crisis meeting its apparent solution in each other. It is, on the
surface, but what makes "Afterglow" so sadly wise and human are the facts driving these adulterous adventures. Christie is a retired movie actress languishing in a stale marriage and mooning over old
co-stars while Nolte chases women. As "Afterglow" rolls out its precise and often exquisitely beautiful scenes, it becomes apparent that Phyllis is not a mere neglected housewife with a Lothario
husband. Christie has never been more appealing and captivating than as Phyllis, who realizes the price she's paid for her mistakes. She hasn't been this accessible since "Heaven Can Wait" with
Warren Beatty. She and Nolte are so wonderfully complex in their scenes together that the young yuppies seem unnervingly unmarked by life and like awkward puppies. Nolte looks right with
Christie, and he looks terribly uneasy with Boyle. Casting is right-on, the four look right with their respective partners and everyone works well together.
Director Alan Rudolph gets fine
performances out of everyone, especially Christie, who's been nominated for an Oscar. He gets the actors to express shifting emotions and subtle changes in expectation and reaction with such precision
that we know exactly how these four people feel as they think they fall in and out of love without a BIG EMOTIONAL SCENE to tell us what's up. It's all done in the little giveaways: Nolte telling
Christie that sometimes one just has to let go, Christie talking about beer and chocolate cream pie, Boyle's expression when she sees Nolte. Nolte has a weary edge; he makes his conquests almost as if
it's part of his job. He's still oozing sex appeal, with his leonine mane of blond hair and masculine solidness, and is well matched with Christie, whose beguiling Phyllis looks far more glamorous than
many women half her age. Half her age, and delivering a comic performance with excellent timing and physical flair, is Lara Flynn Boyle, who seems to have channeled Julie Hagerty's coltish energy and
talent for comedy. She even sounds like Hagerty, and I almost expected Boyle to burst out with Hagerty's frentic "Twenty-two! Twenty-two!" rant from "Lost in America." Jonny Lee Miller is the straight
man and hasn't much to do except flare his nostrils angrily and become besotted with Christie. He's very good showing Jeoffrey's brittle businessman veneer crumbling like peanut brittle when he spots
his wife with Lucky and delivers a rousing piss-off dismissal to an odious and wealthy business contact. Miller is good but he's outdone by the powerhouse performance of Christie, Nolte's anchoring
gravity and Boyle's giddy energy.
At times the movie goes in the complete opposite direction, for an easy laugh, and sometimes it's OK (Nolte drinks Geritol in the tub) and sometimes just annoying
(Boyle speedily redecorates the apartment). There's a coming-out scene that confused me because it seemed to serve absolutely no purpose, and I still can't figure out what that was all about (unless
Donald was after Jeoffrey?) "Afterglow" is a film about coming to terms with mistakes and trying to make the best of your lot in life. It is a film about responsibility and loss, a deeply serious
and probing examination of people losing and finding each other at different stages in life. Rudolph sets up the shots and handles camera movements with grace and an eye towards fitting in character
information through the shot (the photo of Lucky and Phyllis, the wallpaper, the pool) Sets tell us a wealth of information about these different lives, the contrast between the Byrons and the Manns
living quarters tells us all we need to know about those at the top and those in the middle. A very handsome film with glamorous costumes, dazzling sets (that apartment looks like a modern art museum),
very good hair and makeup work and stunning photography (I want to own this movie just so I can replay the scene of the light illuminating the city of Montreal. drop-dead gorgeous).
"Afterglow" isn't
wordy - the dialogue is spare - but it says a lot about love and loss. Very funny but not a slapstick comedy. It's very much a film for adults. An intellectual sex comedy driven by
Christie's wistful and stubborn Phyllis. Highly recommended, won't lose much on the small screen. |
