A Single Man

Tom Ford’s directorial debut, A Single Man, is, like his fashion, impeccably precise. Based on a story by Christopher Isherwood, the title character is George, a British college professor living alone in California. His male partner of 16 years had died some months ago and George struggles to exist. When he does, he does so in an orderly fashion. His house is gorgeous, his clothes meticulous. And on the one day that the film documents, he’s planning to end his life. He goes through the motions of normalcy, preparing for the act, but a series of small events jolt him out of routine. A fair-haired boyish student (Nicholas Hoult) pursues him with penetrating eyes. A gorgeous Spanish rent boy propositions him outside a liquor store and his best friend Charley (Julianne Moore) invites him for dinner. Images of his life with his lover Jim (Matthew Goode) reappear, but it is the young student's eager naivete that, perhaps, remind him of Jim, or of the life he could still have, begin to change his mind about death. Colin Firth never looked better and is a convincing George, however I found the film a bit cold and detached. I could understand George’s emotion intellectually, but not so much emotionally, leaving me intrigued, but not moved. I think this one requires a second viewing to properly appreciate and evaluate. (7/10)