By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * * )
Richard Gere has a hankering for remaking French
classics: five at last count, including American Gigolo and Sommersby. Adrian Lyne, meanwhile, has a proclivity for directing "erotic thrillers": Indecent Proposal, Fatal Attraction and 91/2 Weeks. It was inevitable that the pair of
them would get together.
The vehicle is a faithful - if that word can be used with this material - remake of a 1969 Claude Chabrol classic, La Femme Infidele. Those who are old enough to remember reading long books will recognise that both update an even older story, Flaubert's 1856 tale of Madame Bovary.
There are three acts to this drama of suburban disintegration. It begins by sketching the apparently happy life of Connie Sumner (Diane Lane), her
adoring husband of 11 years, Edward (Richard Gere), and their 8-year-old son, Charlie (Erik Per Sullivan). They live in a mansion outside New York. Edward runs a successful trucking company, while Connie shops and does charity work.
On a trip into a windy Manhattan, she is literally blown into the arms of French bookseller Paul Martel (Olivier Martinez). He invites her up to
his apartment. She leaves but, well, there wouldn't be a story if she didn't come back. And back. Connie's once-patterned life begins to fall apart as she is
consumed with her affair. Now begins the second part of the story, as Edward suspects something is awry and hires a private investigator. The trail leads the husband to the lover's apartment where - plot-spoiler coming - something happens.
At this point director Lyne could have opted for a conventional thriller but he takes up the challenge and moves into the final act, where the now unhappy couple must decide what happens with the rest of their lives.
In a movie that, perversely, possibly works better on the small screen than in the cinema, Lane and Gere are a convincing duo, and the box-office failure is worth the effort of watching. Lane last week won the New York Film Critics' acting award and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance.
* DVD features: movie (124min); commentary by director Lyne; scene-specific commentary by Lane and Martinez; 11 deleted scenes (including alternate ending) with director's commentary; TV interview with Gere, Lane and Lyne; behind-the-scenes; feature on movie editing; cast interviews; director's script notes; trailers.
