"A Single Man" (2009)

I'm by no means an unbiased reviewer. I'm not necessarily a good reviewer, because I'm not too open-minded about films in general, and my gut reaction is usually the one that stays with me throughout a film. And my gut reaction is not to like films that end unhappily. I love happy endings. There are some notable exceptions, but generally if a film is depressing, I won't like it. I don't watch films to be depressed. I suppose it's a credit to the movie if it can move me enough to make me unhappy, but I don't enjoy watching those types of movies. They are not, in my opinion, good movies.

Now that I've got that out of the way, I must admit that I did enjoy "A Single Man," despite the fact that it was incredibly depressing. One reviewer described it as Bereavement, by Dior, and that's exactly what it feels like - a long and depressing perfume advert. It looks beautiful, and some of the dialogue is very clever and heartbreaking. Colin Firth is fantastic as usual, but by no means versatile in this. He basically plays a repressed, gay version of Mr. Darcy. But the moments when he expresses his pain are phenomenal, and really the only enjoyment you can glean from the whole movie.

It follows a day in the life of a homosexual professor of English Literature, George, who is trying to cope with the loss of his partner. He contemplates suicide throughout, and the lighting is quite interesting in that it changes from gray when he's thinking about killing himself to brightly colored when confronted with reality. The whole film looks wonderful, and you can see the director, Tom Ford's, fashion sense throughout. Everyone is beautiful, and beautifully dressed, except for Nicholas Hoult, who plays a student of George's, and who wears a ghastly pink sweater in nearly every scene. I don't know what Tom Ford was thinking there.

The other major issue I had with the movie, aside from the depressing part, is that the only person you like in it is George. Everyone else seems shallow and superficial, even George's best friend, Charley (Julianne Moore), who believes his homosexuality is just a denial of his true, heterosexual feelings for her. You're not left liking anyone, or anything about George's life, and you can quite see why suicide would be his best option. The moments that are meant to uplift you often don't, and you're just left feeling that life without love is dreadful. Which it is. But I don't want to watch a movie and be reminded of that.