Review: A Single Man

by Christopher Misch

26, January 2011ReviewsView Comments

Dir. TOM FORD

2009

On the morning of November 30th 1962, George Falconer (Colin Firth) after awaking once again to another painful realization that his long time partner, Jim, was killed in a car crash eight months earlier, he comes to the conscious decision to end his own life later that evening. Since Jim’s unexpected death, George has struggled to locate a meaning to his life, to the point where the simple act of waking up in the morning has proven unbearable. As George explains: ‘It takes time in the morning for me to become George, time to adjust to what is expected of George and how he is to behave. By the time I have dressed and put the final layer of polish on the now slightly stiff but quite perfect George I know fully what part I’m suppose to play‘.

From first time filmmaker and iconic fashion designer Tom Ford, A Single Man transpires over the span of a single day in Los Angeles with its spotlight on George, a grief stricken English professor attempting to put on the facade of normalcy by suppressing feelings of emptiness, but no matter how deep he pushes them, they never stray far from his thoughts. As we accompany George we are given several glimpses into his sixteen year romance with Jim, starting with the most recent and traveling backwards from the day he received the dreaded phone call informing him of Jim’s passing to the fateful night he and Jim first locked eyes outside a local nightclub.

Now, from a purely an aesthetic perspective, A Single Man is a film of undeniable beauty. It’s over saturated colour pallet combined with Ford’s elegant artistry are a fascination to behold, but as we are all well aware a beautiful looking film does not always equate to great film, and it takes Colin Firth’s extraordinarily refined performance to elevate Ford’s debut feature to something more than a mere picturesque fashion commercial. Firth, who is quickly becoming one of Hollywood’s more reliable actors, offers us one of his strongest roles as a man unable to come to terms with the death of his partner and dear friend. In addition to Firth, the film also encompasses some strong supporting work from Julianne Moore as George’s best friend who also happens to have feelings for him that extend beyond the bonds of their friendship; Nicholas Hoult as a young student whose relationship with George exceeds the acceptable boundaries of student-teacher; and of course Matthew Goode as Jim, who’s death is the source of George’s internal agony.

Despite the strength of the acting and its gorgeous visuals, A Single Mannearly falters in its final act as this portion of the film is easily its weakest. These closing scenes dabble too long on the relationship between George and Nicholas Hoult’s character, and in the process much of the stylistic and emotional flare, present in the rest of the film, is strangely absent. However, while the ending does leave much to be desired, Tom Ford in his first attempt at movie making has orchestrated a resonate film where beneath its obvious visual beauty, there too exists an emotional beauty and its this aspect of the film that allows us forgive it for its imperfections.

77/100 - Tom Ford in his first attempt at movie making has orchestrated a resonate film where beneath its obvious visual beauty, there too exists an emotional beauty and its this aspect of the film that allows us forgive it for its imperfections.

Christopher Misch

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I've always loved movies, but it wasn't until under the tutelage of Professor Garry Leonard at the University of Toronto that my passion for the industry became an understanding of an art form. With a specific fascination in both the western genre and Asian cinema in general, I am of the view that good movies are either enlightening or entertaining, and if you are truly lucky they are both.