100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 67: Adore

Director: Anne Fontaine

Genre: Drama

Runtime: 100 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Naomi Watts, Robin Wright, Xavier Samuel, James Frencheville, Ben Mendelsohn

Description: Lil (Naomi Watts) and Roz (Robin Wright) are two lifelong friends. As adults, their sons have developed a friendship as strong as that which binds their mothers. One summer, all four are confronted by simmering emotions that have been mounting between them, and each find unexpected happiness in relationships that cross the bounds of convention.

Review: We follow the unconventional story of best friends Lil and Roz. They have friends been since early childhood. Both women have a grown son. Lil’s son Ian starts flirting with Roz, who is charmed by it and feels flattered by the attention she gets from the young Adonis. Roz’ son Tom witnesses this happening and decides to take revenge. He tries to hit on Lil, who rejects him at first. Soon the two of them also start a passionate affair. The melodrama is complete, both boys are in a relationship with their best friend’s mother.

The boys don’t struggle with this extraordinary situation and both women only admit they have crossed a line, but don’t end the relationship. It’s a very provocative theme. It sometimes feels like a soap opera, with straight forward dialogues and long, pining looks.

The location where it was filmed is gorgeous and the camerawork is impressive. Both Naomi Watts and Robin Wright are very professional and take the movie to a higher level. Xavier Samuel and James Frencheville are stuck with a more stereotypical role of young stud.

The movie overall is pretty enjoyable, although I struggled with the ethics a bit, when the characters clearly didn’t. It’s entertaining, especially if you like melodramatic movies.

Rating: 3 / 5