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Review by Susan Granger
1½ stars out of 4
What a disappointment! Writer/director Neil Jordan, who gave us
The Crying Game, Mona Lisa, and In Company of Wolves, totally misses
the mark with this soggy romantic tale, grimly adapted from one of
Graham Greene's most autobiographical novels. Looking like a leftover
from the '50s, it's a staid, stodgy drama set during W.W.II, when the
Nazis were bombing London and adulterous couples carelessly cavorted
in bed instead of seeking shelter during the air-raids. One such
couple is Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore. He's a moody novelist,
tortured by jealousy, and she's a troubled married woman, trapped by
circumstance in a dull, loveless marriage to a career civil servant,
glumly played by Stephen Rea. They enjoyed many lusty encounters
until, inexplicably, she broke off with him. The story explores how
that happened and why. It would be helpful if we cared but we don't,
because neither character is even remotely interesting and, without
revealing too much, suffice it to say that the explanation revolves
around Catholicism, the power of prayer, the existence of miracles,
and the virtue of sacrifice. Julianne Moore spends considerable screen
time cavorting naked, having shocked audiences with her full frontal
nudity in Robert Altman's Short Cuts. She's actress who obviously
enjoys anatomical revelation and seeks roles in which she can show her
body off. Delicate, skinny Ralph Fiennes, on the other hand, suffers
when his clothes are removed; plus, he seems totally self-absorbed
which renders the love scenes lifeless, even depressing. This same
story was filmed unsuccessfully before in 1955 with Deborah Kerr, Van
Johnson, and John Mills. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "The
End of the Affair" is a plodding, dreary 4. It's a murky, misguided
melodrama.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
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