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Unfaithful
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
Year: 2002
Rated: R
Film Length: 124 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16X9 Enhanced Widescreen (1.85:1)
Subtitles: English and Spanish
Adrian Lyne has certainly established himself
as one of Hollywood's leading Directors with such
films as Flashdance, Jacob's Ladder, 9 1/2 weeks,
Fatal Attraction and Indecent Proposal.
He seems to have an uncanny knack for making
sexually provocative films that often deal with
infidelity, the destruction of family, and even
murder. Although it seems that Lyne felt it
necessary to revisit familiar stomping ground so
similar to his 1987's Fatal Attraction, he
never quite deliveres the same punch.
Connie Sumner (Diane Lane), an apparently happily
married suburban mom, literally bumps into dashing
young Frenchman Paul Martel (Olivier Martinez) on
the streets of New York City’s SoHo district during a
windstorm. He's a young French, sweet looking
slickster who preys on her vulnerability. When
she falls and scrapes her knees, he immediately
takes the opportunity to "rescue" Connie by
inviting her up to his loft. Connie and Paul make
passionate love in his apartment, the corridor
outside, a restaurant, and even a cinema.
Unsurprisingly, husband Edward (Richard Gere)
instinctively senses his wife is having an affair.
His gut reaction is confirmed when he hires a private
detective to spy on his wife. Soon Connie's warm
and safe world slowly begins to fall apart.
Unfaithful falls very short of the elements
that made Fatal Attraction a cringe-inducing
world-wide success. Perhaps it's because Lyne has
matured over the years, completely toning down his
act. What we have here is a rather foul and sad
tale of a marriage falling apart in which everyone
is a loser. Despite this fact, the film does manage
to remain entertaining, showing that while the
Director has become kinder and gentler, he hasn't
lost his form for making engrossing films that slowly
build up momentum, delivering a nerve-wracking climax.
Richard Gere is also at the top of his game here
as the cuckolded husband. This is one of his best
performances in recent years. I was disappointed that
we really never got to see much of actor Dominic
Chianese (The Sopranos), who gets less than 5 minutes
of screen time here.
How is the transfer?
This transfer certainly does do its best dealing
with Lyne's stylized photography that contain fog
and natural light. Many of his scenes are filmed
way too softly, and others take on a hazed look that
prevents this transfer from ever looking sharp or
detailed. You can't complain, however, as this is
how the director wanted the movie to be filmed.
Despite this, colors do manage to peak very nicely
such as with the deep green foliage that surrounds
the Sumner's suburban home, or the blue sweater
that Connie gives her husband. In all, this warm
transfer is extremely good, and there is no evidence
of film grain or blemish to be seen anywhere.
The 5.1 surround mix never becomes obtrusive here,
nicely complimenting the screen action. The film is
mostly dialogue heavy, and all of that is represented
clearly across the front channels. There are two
things you will notice the most about the rear
surrounds....first, there's the beautifully haunting
piano and choral driven score by Jan Kaczmareck that
envelopes the entire sound field. Then, there's
the surrounding wind and rain that practically
place you in the middle of nature's worst elements.
Special Features
First up is a full-length commentary by
Director Adrian Lyne. Lyne is absolutely in love
with French cinema and the fact that it examines
relationships. He was a huge fan of Les Femmes
Infidele, and was very happy to have made a
film that is only loosely based on that film.
Throughout this commentary, Lyne compares the two
films and points out the many changes he made in
the main characters. He also talks about the risks
he had with the storyline, and the importance of
having the audience remain sympathetic to both Connie
and Edward's relationship. Listening to Adrian
describe each of these scenes is a great compliment
to the film for the fact that he really delves into
what is going through the mind of his characters at
every turning point of the film. Why does Connie
let this affair drag on? Adrian suggests its the
danger of being caught that excites her. In addition,
the director often talks about how meticulously he
thought about blocking each of his scenes the night
before they were shot, and the specific camera angles
that were going to be used. Be sure to listen to
this commentary after you have watched the
film as Adrian does spoil the film's ending very
early on.
There's also screen-specific commentary by actors
Diane Lane and Olivier Martinez. Among the topics
discussed are auditions, working with the director
and the film's co-stars. Both actors also give their
individual viewpoints on what their characters were
thinking at various intervals in the film.
An Affair ro remember: On the set of Unfaithful
begins with director Adrian Lyne talking about his
doubts of remaking the french film Les Femmes
Infidele, but he did, introducing his own unique
style and flavor. We don't hear too much about the
original film that this remake is based upon, but we
do get some insight into how Lyne references his
film material and how some of his most startling
film images are provoked. There are interviews
here with Richard Gere as well as Diane Lane, who
was very happy to play Gere's wife -- especially
since they had enjoyed a long friendship since their
initial pairing in The Cotton Club. We
certainly get our fair share of behind-the-camera
material here which includes a segment on how
difficult it was to work amongst 8 wind machines
that provided poor communication as well as lots
of sore throats the following day. From listening
to Gere talk about Lyne, you almost get the idea
that times between the two were often difficult on
the set. Gere refers to Lyne as having a bulldog
approach, often demanding up to 25 takes of a
particular scene. Everyone seems to agree, however,
that this approach seems to bring out the very best
in the all his actors.
(length: approx. 15 minutes)
There are eleven deleted scenes that begin
with an optional audio introduction by Adrian Lyne,
which comes directly from France (where he lives when
he is not shooting). There's nothing much here other
than for the Mr. Lyne to warn you that he may be a
bit rusty remembering these scenes since a long time
has passed since they were filmed. Let me give you
a highlight of what is included here:
* A scene where Connie tucks her son into bed was
cut due to the fact that there were other such scenes
already in the film.
* A chance meeting between Connie and Paul
on a train ride.
* An interesting scene at the cinema where both
Connie and Paul do a little playful acting prior
to their sex scene.
* A dinner party at a dining room table is
practically ignored by Connie and Edward who
exchange uneasy glances.
* A red light. A parked car. A couple undecided
about their future. A slightly different, more
pronounced ending for this film is offered.
There's an option to play audio commentary with
Adrian Lyne during these deleted scenes, and I highly
recommend that you do so.
Anne Coates on Editing spends some time with
the stealth collaborator and friend to many of the
world's finest directors including Sidney Lumet,
David Lynch, Milos Forman, Lawrence Kasdan and
Steven Soderbergh. Anne talks about the importance
of bringing something fresh and different to her
films, and insisted to Adrian Lyne that she be able
to do just that for Unfaithful. As Anne
takes us through some unedited takes, we learn how
her opinions of the film's edit greatly differed
from that of Adrian's. This is quite an interesting
featurette -- especially for the fact that Anne
comes across as being very modest, not particularly
crediting herself as being overly talented. She feels
that perhaps she has gift for editing, but nothing
beyond that.
(length: approx. 9 minutes)
There are three separate interviews from The
Charlie Rose Show presented here. First, Richard
Gere talks about bad things that happen to good
and decent people who don't communicate with each
other. This is obviously one of the many layers
that makes up this film. Diane Lane talks
about her father that was involved in show business
during the 50s. It was actually an unintentional
Christmas joke that led a very young Diane to her
first performance in a play. From there she talks
about her early days in theater on up to her early
film career working with great directors like Francis
Ford Coppola. Olivier Martinez talks a
little about his family who were mostly Boxers.
After a motorcycle accident, Olivier looked into
taking acting classes and ended up in a theatrical
school. Success came very quick, and Olivier is
not shy to admit how easy life became for him
afterwards.
(length: approx. 21 minutes)
This is something you don't find in DVD supplements
too often, and it's a very welcome addition here.
Director's Script Notes gives you the
opportunity to use your DVD remote and browse through
pages of script that relate to three important
sequences in the film. As you go through these pages,
you'll see many scribblings from Mr. Lyne, often
describing how the scene should be acted out. It's
a nice way to see visually what Mr. Lyne was
envisioning in his head.
In addition to the film's original theatrical
trailer there are trailers for Daredevil
and Dancer Upstairs. It's really cool to
see Fox continue to include upcoming theatrical
trailers like this in their DVD releases. Thank You!
Final Thoughts
Though Adrian Lyne has failed to give us the
conflicts and thrills that made Fatal Attraction so
enticing, it's very hard to resist this erotic
thriller with its powerful images and sensual
story line. Do yourself a favor, however...don't
go looking to watch this film if you are searching
for inspirational material to work on your troubled marriage.
Worth a rental. You may buy it afterwards.
Release Date: December 17, 2002
