Neil LaBute returns to his mean, mean
roots in this nasty Pygmallion
piece about an artist who reshapes a
nerdy boy into Paul Rudd. Very mannered
acting and an artificial script highlight the
human terrors of love and deceit. If you
dont go for that sort of thing, and prefer
your acting naturalistic and your stories
sweet and upbeat, youll probably hate
Shape of Things. It has all the
marks of a filmed play, and then those
marks are re-marked, highlighted and
printed in 48-point type. Then they jump
around and beat up on your emotions,
and then in the end everything gets
worse. Actually, the ending is great, and
even if the first 70 minutes are bugging
you, stick around for the fireworks,
because Adam (Paul Rudd) and Eve
(Rachel Weisz) really get down to the
heart of art and the stomach of love, and
then they come out the other end, all
steaming and glistening in the noon-day
sun. It may not smell pretty, but it looks
fabulous.