A jilted husband uses the power of the pen to mess with his ex-wife’s mind in Nocturnal Animals, the engaging and dark-hearted latest from director Tom Ford.
Amy Adams, on fire in 2016 even after you factor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, plays Susan Morrow, a bizarre art gallery owner stuck in a rut. Her bland, but gorgeous husband (Armie Hammer … also having a good year) is ambivalent towards her, she’s borderline broke and generally unhappy.
She gets a manuscript in the mail from ex-husband Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal). He was a struggling writer when the two were together, but now he just might have the novel that could get his career going. Susan agrees to read the advance copy and the story within, to say the least, freaks her out.
The film’s screenplay, written by Ford and based on the novel by Austin Wright, then goes on an ultra-clever route. We see the story play out as Susan reads it and, as many of us often do, Susan casts the main character in the novel, Tony Hastings, as somebody she knows: her ex-husband. So Gyllenhaal is essentially playing two roles in the film: Edward in flashbacks and Tony, husband of Laura (Isla Fisher) and father to India (Ellie Bamber), in her visualization of the novel.
One of the great tricks of the movie is that it remains a mystery whether or not the events in the novel are based upon real life, or just act as a symbolic representation of the cruelties Susan inflicted upon Edward when she left him. Also, we never really know if Edward is somebody who simply wrote a chilling thriller and wants his ex-wife’s honest opinion, or if he’s sending her a “message.”
Edward’s novel is a searing thriller involving a family, led by Tony, on a road trip in Texas. They get harassed on the highway by a group of thugs, but most notably by Ray (a completely terrifying Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Things go really bad, which allows for the entrance of a lawman character, Bobby Andes. That lawman just happens to be played by Michael Shannon, so now you know why this movie is so much damned fun to watch.
Well, fun in that it’s always a pleasure to see performers setting the screen ablaze with their work. Not so fun in that there are a lot of exposed nerves and brutal moments in this movie, and it isn’t for the faint hearted. Ford and friends are trafficking in the dark side with this baby. All of the worst fears of husbands and wives are in play for this one, and happy endings aren’t on its mind.
Gyllenhaal, who did a great job with dual roles in Enemy, excels again as the jilted husband/helpless father. His characters are made to go through every kind of torture a man can go through, and then some. You get the sense he worked himself up to a lot of stomachaches while making this film.
Adams portrays a once virtuous woman made slightly vapid due to some, perhaps, arguably bad life choices. She still manages to create a character that ultimately breaks your heart. While Edward’s possibly vengeful actions might be fighting to paint Susan in a bad light, Susan still winds up a sensitive, sympathetic character. That’s Amy Adams for you. She can pretty much pull off anything in front of a camera.
Shannon, having a banner year even after you factor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, plays a lawman with a death sentence just about the way you would expect Shannon to play a character with such a dilemma (Read: He kills it). Taylor-Johnson goes againsttype as a redneck monster who’s unpredictable until he becomes horrifyingly predictable.
This is Tom Ford’s second film as a director after A Single Man, so he’s a solid 2-for-2. Nocturnal Animals certainly goes down as one of the year’s more unique, mainstream films. It’s also a movie that might inspire you to take a more populous road on that journey through Texas you’ve been planning.
This article appears in Dec 8-14, 2016.
A large busted red head. I’m in love.
Me too 13.
I’ve always thought of Amy Adams as the cute, shy, girl next door type.
But that photo above makes think of her as the sultry, seductress, vixen type.
Meow!
She is a beauty. How are you enjoying that Hendrix CD ?
Crazy W:
Like I enjoy all Hendrix. On every level. I enjoy the heavy stuff, the bluesy stuff, the psychedelic stuff, the soulful stuff (which I feel is most represented on this performance) and everything in between. Music would not be what it is today if Jimi didn’t exist. As you already know, he was a genius beyond geniuses. I believe it was you who mentioned “If God needed guitar lessons…”, correct?
All of these songs have been released before in various forms, but this release is the first official release of the complete 1st show on CD (yes, the version I bought) or LP (I realise they are supposed to be superior, but I haven’t owned a record player in years) and the sound is much cleaner than all the bootleg recordings I own of this show. All of the tracks here but 3 (out of 11) have never been on official releases before now.
I’ve read that some people at this show (I’m only referencing the first performance, not the other 3) in particular were disappointed because they were expecting a “greatest hits” style performance, which they didn’t get. (I know that you are aware.) No Foxey Lady, Purple Haze, Watchtower, Fire, et cetera. No playing the guitar with teeth or setting it on fire. I just hope that those same people came around and realised that the performance they were witnessing was historic and hopefully they grew to appreciate what they saw.
Just curious: I understand that you were at the 1st show, but did you actually get to see any or all of the other 3 performances? If so, bonus times the amount of other shows you attended.
Also, I just noticed this photo is in need of some serious cropping. There’s exposed arse-crack just above her right elbow.
Eww!
I was at the first show ( New Years Eve ) Didn’t catch the others. No one loves songs like Purple Haze, Hey Joe etc. more than I do. However, someone with Jimi’s talent needs to move on. I don’t recall hearing any negative comments. My only concern was that was the first show that had Billy Cox on bass instead of Noel Redding. That concern lasted all of 2 seconds as Cox was masterful. All in all, one of the best shows I’ve ever been to. With Jimi playing how could it not. And it was yours truly who said that if God ever wanted to learn guitar, he’d go to Jimi. This knowing full well that he could be as good as the teacher.
I was too interested in looking down the front of her dress to notice her elbow !!
I tell AZ/DC about a Hendrix concert I went to years ago and get 2 dislikes. What assholes.
CW 13:
There are some people out there who lack any sort of joy in their lives. When they see others who can get along despite their opposing political beliefs, it bothers them and they start getting happy with that dislike icon. They are a pathetic group of people and I can’t imagine how much it must suck to be them. Be thankful that you have a personality which transcends political vitriol, something these fools will never accomplish.
Rant complete.
Your call for civility has already earned you 2 dislikes. I guess that will teach you to be nice to me. Like I said, assholes.
I’m not concerned with the dislikes, they only prove I’m correct about what I’ve posted.
These fools have no life outside of being trollish. They are sad, pathetic, joyless, small-minded trolls with absolutely nothing else better to do.
Or, as you summarized: Assholes.
Have a good day CW.
You too, Man.