‘Nocturnal Animals’ doubles down on unpleasantness
Published 1:30 am Friday, November 25, 2016
Two parallel stories unfold in “Nocturnal Animals.” Both are unpleasant.
In the “real” world, we watch as a gallery owner, Susan (Amy Adams), surveys her unhappy life. Her husband (Armie Hammer) is pulling away, and her finances are dire.
At this moment, a manuscript arrives in her chic L.A. home. It’s the first contact she’s had with her ex-husband Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal) in 19 years.
Edward has mailed her his new novel, dedicated to her. Given the subject matter of the book, this dedication seems either guilty or hostile, depending on your perspective.
The novel is the second story we watch. It’s far from the snobby high-art world.
A family — husband (Gyllenhaal again), wife (Amy Adams look-alike Isla Fisher), teenage daughter (Ellie Bamber) — are driving across a deserted stretch of Texas. In a terrifying sequence, they are accosted by a trio of strangers (led by Aaron Taylor-Johnson).
The Texas sequences are like a grungy drive-in thriller wrapped in slick packaging. We move between these two worlds — one suspenseful, one full of ennui — for the remainder of the film.
Writer-director Tom Ford adapted the material from Austin Wright’s novel “Tony and Susan.” Ford is the fashion designer who made an arty film-directing debut with “A Single Man.”
As you might expect, “Nocturnal Animals” is a film of glossy surfaces. Finding the substance beneath those surfaces is not easy.
The film comes to life most vividly not in the snooty L.A. sequences but in the tentative friendship between the fictional husband and a Texas sheriff (Michael Shannon, on his game here). This relationship is like something out of a classic Western, although the story is set in the present day.
Most of the time, the Texas story plays as sheer, icky exploitation. In both parts of the film, Ford seems to be telling the audience that we shouldn’t expect happy endings or neat justice.
A good theme, but there aren’t many other ideas here. And despite the best efforts of Amy Adams, her material (including flashbacks to her first marriage) lacks a pulse. Susan’s showdown with her money-obsessed mother (Laura Linney) is an exception — a standout scene between two sharp actresses. Maybe money needed to be the true subject of this film. The rest is so much distraction.
“Nocturnal Animals” (1½ stars)
Director Tom Ford tells two parallel stories, both unpleasant. One is the saga of an unhappy gallery owner (Amy Adams), the other is the terrifying suspense novel written by her ex-husband (Jake Gyllenhaal). It’s hard to find the substance beneath the glossy surfaces here, as the movie comes across as both arty and exploitative. With Michael Shannon.
Rating: R, for violence, language, nudity
Showing: SIFF Cinema Egyptian
