Ghost Writer: Michele A.OHG EXCLUSIVE! Link but please do not repost.
*SPOILER WARNING*
3 1/2 out of 5 shovels
The latest offering from TIFF’s favorite son, the iconic Canadian film director, Atom Egoyan, is a stylish, erotic thriller starring Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried (you may recall her as sweet-as-sugar Sophie in last year’s Mamma Mia – my, she has certainly grown up!) But there is another star, especially for TIFF audiences – the city of Toronto itself. Toronto has often been used as a filming site representing other cities. In this film, it is Toronto AS Toronto, and it is spectacular.
The film opens with a surprise birthday party – but instead of surprising her college professor husband David (Neeson), ob/gyn Catherine (Moore) is “surprised” herself. Out of town on busine
ss, David misses his flight home and, consequently, his party, and Catherine's suspicions are awakened by a suggestive picture/text message she discovers on his cell phone the following day.
Instead of confronting him, she broods. She is having lunch with friends, and while in the restroom hears a young woman (Chloe, played by Seyfried) weeping in the next stall. Her motherly instincts aroused, she attempts to comfort the girl and a casual acquaintance is formed. She ultimately learns that Chloe is an “escort” catering to well-heeled men.
At this point, you have to suspend disbelief.
Question: Would a successful doctor pay a call girl to attempt to seduce her husband and report back on what happens?
Answer: Probably not. But in the dark, while munching popcorn, anything is possible. And, in this case, highly enjoyable.
Chloe does as asked and reports back, in detail, on what transpires between herself and David. Catherine is understandably angry, but she is also…well…turned on by the voyeuristic nature of their conversations. There are some artistically shot scenes between Chloe and Catherine (I recall something similar in Egoyan’s 2005 TIFF entry, Where the Truth Lies) as their relationship progresses beyond “play for pay.”
But Catherine wants out. And Chloe wants more. (Cue sinister music – the Mychael Danna score is wonderful, by the way.) Rebuffed by Catherine, Chloe begins to insinuate herself into Catherine’s marriage and family, unpaid and uninvited. Catherine forces a confrontation with David and…
Major plot twist, which I won’t reveal here. Not only because it is too much of a spoiler even in a review with a “spoilers” warning, but because at this point in the film, you will have likely figured it out for yourself.
And therein lies the major weakness in Chloe – the revelation which wasn’t a revelation to me, nor to two of my three fellow filmgoers. (My husband swore he didn’t guess, but we were at a morning screening and sleep deprivation due to too much TIFF partying the night before may have numbed his brain cells.)
For this reason, a film that was unusual in its premise approximately three-quarters of the way through became something nearly formulaic towards the end. The somewhat disappointing conclusion, however, didn’t ruin the film for me nor does it give me any hesitation in recommending it. Chloe would have gotten 4 shovels from me were it not for the late plot weakness - I give it 3.5 shovels for titillating sexiness-without-seediness, beautiful Toronto views, and solid performances from the three leads.
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