★★★This is a beautiful movie, as you’d expect from a designer with a strong visual sense. More than one scene has a still photography sense, but the two that I remember clearest are the scene when George and Jim are talking on the rocks (which looked like it was lifted from a photography book) and the scene with the oversized billboard and George talking with Carlos, the Spanish hustler. I enjoyed both of these scenes, the former because of the composition, texture and stark light and the latter because of its GQ fashion sense and quote of Arimondi. Other great visuals are the
architectural mid-century house George and Jim lived in and the home and style of Charley.Moore’s character points to some of Ford’s limitations, though. Aside from her being in the book that served as the source of the film, I don’t see her function here. Were all of Moore’s footage cut, we’d have the same understanding of George’s character, and Charley doesn’t have an important plot function either. She’s a good excuse for bringing in some more visuals, but she doesn’t move the story or psychology forward very much. In fact, a general problem here is that the story doesn’t move forward much at all. While it can be fine to have a meditative film or a film whose visuals move in a direction, Single Man feels more like a series of pretty tableaux than a linear progression of a story. Single Man suggested Vivre sa Vie to me with its nice visuals and its episodic plot structure, but the French film, even with its choppy inter-titles, has much more narrative flow than does Single Man. Colin Firth does an admirable job of trying to bring continuity to his character, but the movie needs that attention at the larger film level.
Even with its problems, though, Single Man has a lot heart. Its live-every-day-like-it’s-your-last theme is warm and worthy, and it’s a film with love at its core. We see the tenderness and affection between George and Jim in parts of the film, and George’s profound mourning indicates the depth of their love. But the film prefers love over loss, and Firth’s character eventually discovers that he can still find tenderness in the sweet, insistent affection of Kenny and the evident attraction of Carlos. Loopy as she is, even Charley brings some love and humanity into George’s life. And the redemptive power of love goes a long way in making this film the worthwhile project it is.
