2010: The Year in Film - A Single Man Review

I usually make a point to see as many of the Best Picture and Best Actor/Actress nominated films every year, I don't always catch them all, but as an amateur cinephile, I feel it's important to see/appreciate excellence in acting and filmmaking. As a short aside, I feel that the winners should pass the "10 year test", i.e., is the film/performance involved going to stand the test of time and be just as appreciable in 10 years as it is right now? For instance, last year, Mickey Rourke should have won best actor over Sean Penn, because in 8 years Sean Penn's performance will be scarcely remembered while Mickey Rourke's will continue to be celebrated. At the time, last year, gay rights were a hot-button issue and "Milk" was one of the first films to tackle the issue head on, so it was rewarded, but such films rarely stand the test of time. Truly excellent films and performances should be rewarded as much as possible. That being said, here are who I think should/will win the big 6 awards (picture, directing, acting): Picture: Avatar, Director: Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), Actor: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds), Actress: Carey Mulligan (An Education), Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique (Precious)

So without further ado, let's review an unexpectedly charming little film that happens to feature an academy-award nominated performance from the lead, A Single Man.

A SINGLE MAN

First time director (and fashion icon) Tom Ford and the supremely talented Colin Firth combine to create a wonderful little snapshot of one day in the life of an English professor during the height of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 Los Angeles. George (Firth) lost his partner of 16 years several months before - and his life is in a state of existential crisis. Few films have captured the soul-crushing devastation of losing someone like this one.. making matters even worse, this being 1962, George is unable to publicly mourn the loss of his partner, Jim. While the film ostensibly takes place over the course of a single October day, through the use of flashbacks, and daydream sequences, quite a bit of Jim and George's life together is told and fleshed out, particularly compared with the depressing emptiness of George's current life. Colin Firth is perfect in/for this role, as a sophisticated, intelligent, cynical intellectual who is bored and trapped by the circumstances of his (unfortunate for him) time and place. This film is visually stunning, with some great shots combined with a terrific score and soundtrack to make the entire experience feel like a prolonged, mournful dream. Tom Ford is here to stay as a filmmaker, and made a film that could have been about any number of things, but instead was about a single man's (pun intended) life and experiences.

Colin Firth is perfect. Julianne Moore is great as George's lifelong mess of a friend, Charlotte, and the whole film becomes more than just the sum of its parts. More than a mournful ode to a lost love, more than a statement on society in the 60's, more than a mere character study.. this film is like a good novel in that it accurately says so much about humanity and its time and place. This film actually reminded me a lot of the television series 'Mad Men', one of my favorites, in its mournful, solemn tone, its leisurely pace, its visual beauty, in addition to obviously, the fact that the Cuban Missile Crisis was also touched on in that show. Its almost like an extended episode of 'Man Men' focusing on a singular, fascinating character. This is in no way a bad thing.

I really enjoyed this film, it is very artfully done, and features a tremendous performance, one of the very best of the year. If it wasn't for Jeff Bridges in the role of his lifetime, I'd say it was Mr. Firth's statue to lose. While this isn't a light "pick me up", its certainly a work of art, and well worth the 2 hours you'll put in.

8/10.