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She may have been all sunshine and fluffy bunnies in Mamma Mia, but Amanda Seyfried has definitely gone all bunny ...
She may have been all sunshine and fluffy bunnies in Mamma Mia, but Amanda Seyfried has definitely gone all bunny boiler on us. After a fine turn as a geeky schoolgirl in Jennifer's Body, our Mandy has turned to the dark side as a high class prossie in Chloe.Another day another dime, but this time call girl Chloe is hired by a rather different kind of client - the financially secure but emotionally vulnerable Catherine, as played by the stunning Julianne Moore.Despite being a top gynaecologist, a loving family, a wonderful home and a successful marriage, Catherine has got one or two question marks hanging over her. Yes her hubby David is a loving family man, and yes he is also a hugely talented and popular lecturer, but perhaps he is a little too popular at times - at least with the female students. And therein lies the problem. Is her charismatic husband getting fresh with the freshers?Normal people might confront the issue, but Catherine is clearly not normal for she decides to hire a pretty hooker to play the part of a student and dangle her wares in front of her husband to see if he will bite. But, unfortunately for Catherine, Chloe has got problems of her own and doesn't stick to the script.Director Atom Egoyan has created a tense thriller with an A-List cast that feels like the lovechild of A Single White Female and Fatal Attraction. The principal leads of Amanda Seyfried and Julianne Moore are exceptional, with a real chemistry between them including a highly anticipated lesbian tryst, while Liam Neeson is perfectly cast as the suave husband who may be playing away.However, as the tension cranks up, Egoyan goes for a swift and ill-advised climax to round the film off, and as a result Chloe feels more like a run of the mill thriller which just happens to have an A-list cast.Tense, thrilling and with some fine performances, Chloe is certainly worth a private viewing.
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Press Association
Director Atom Egoyan probes the destructive power of obsession in this English language adaptation of Anne Fontaine's 2003 film, Nathalie. ...
Director Atom Egoyan probes the destructive power of obsession in this English language adaptation of Anne Fontaine's 2003 film, Nathalie. Shot on location in wintry Toronto, which is almost as cold as some of the characters' emotions, Chloe charts the journey of sexual re-discovery of a despairing wife whose marriage has been stuck in a rut for years. The method she chooses to reinvigorate her ailing relationship is unorthodox to say the least, unlocking deep-rooted desires that put not only herself but also her entire family in danger. Once scriptwriter Erin Cressida Wilson performs the sleight of hand that shifts the dynamics between characters in an alarming new direction, the film strays disappointingly into the realms of Fatal Attraction. A lingering final shot - a counterpoint to the opening sequence of a young prostitute dressing herself for 'business' - provokes a wry smile, leaving us to contemplate the fate of each family member as they come to terms with their transgressions. Successful gynaecologist Catherine (Julianne Moore) is fed up with the seemingly endless liaisons of her college professor husband, David (Liam Neeson). Unable to stop David's roving eye, Catherine approaches sexy prostitute Chloe (Amanda Seyfried) with a curious proposition. "My husband's cheating on me, at least I think he is," the wife informs Chloe. "I want to find out what he does if you present yourself to him." So Catherine pays the young woman to seduce her man and report back on their amorous activities, delivering detailed verbal reports of every furtive glance and touch. The wife persists with the plan and is shocked and aroused by Chloe's accounts of an encounter in a deserted greenhouse. "We've taken this as far as I want this to go," the wife tells Chloe but the prostitute refuses to be discarded, developing an unsettling interest in Catherine's teenage son, Michael (Max Thieriot). For audiences who haven't seen Fontaine's original film, Chloe promises many sensual delights as the prostitute beguiles her married client with her torrid antics. Egoyan steams up the screen by intercutting shots of Catherine in the shower with Chloe's greenhouse confessional, building to a climax as husband and wife simultaneously lose themselves in the moment. Moore cuts a pitiful figure as a career woman who barely speaks to her husband or son, and finds comfort in the intimacy that develops with Chloe. Neeson remains on the periphery and Thieriot perfectly embodies the truculence of a teenager, rebelling against parental control. Seyfried looks stunning, in and out of her clothes, but she seems a little too naive and fresh-faced to really make a living on her back, or as she poetically puts it, "I can become your living, breathing dream... and then disappear." Just like Egoyan's film.
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