Forty Shades of Blue

"A giant that walks among us."
Subtle, nuanced and totally internalized, Ira Sachs' gorgeously evocative Forty Shades of Blue might be a bit too restrained for most audiences. It's a striking and terribly lonely character study of people aching to connect, and a truly delicate story of conflicted and damaged people, all faced with difficult choices.

Rip Torn - who last year probably should have received an Oscar nomination - stars as Alan James, a boozed out, aging Memphis writer/musician and record producer who is having a party in his honor. Alan is a bit of a philanderer and a bit of an egotist. We first meet him just as he is abandoning his gorgeous Russian trophy girlfriend, Laura (Dina Korzun) so he can fool around with another woman in a hotel room.

Laura is well aware of Alan's wayward ways and his penchant for adultery, but as a Russian bride, she's also cognizant of the fact that Alan can give her a life she could only have dreamed of back in Russia. She puts up with his raging, his...

generally interesting drama
"Forty Shades of Blue" features Rip Torn as an acerbic, hard-drinking music producer in Memphis who, though greatly beloved by his fans and the people in the industry, is viewed somewhat differently by those who know him best. Despite his advanced age, he has a gorgeous live-in girlfriend, Laura (Dina Korzun), whom he met while on a business trip to Russia and, even though they seem to be reasonably devoted to one another and their relationship, Laura is becoming increasing morose as a result of his constant philandering. When Alan's married son, Michael (Darren E. Burrows) - who has reasons of his own for resenting the man - comes from California for a visit, he and Laura enter into a secret love affair that forces her to finally question her commitment to Alan and to perhaps cut the chords - both obligatory and emotional - that bind her to him.

Although the script does an effective job capturing the tensions simmering just beneath the surface of the story, the plot...

Now THIS is a movie
This is the best movie I've seen in a long, long time. Rip Torn is perfect for this role; and the actress playing his wife is as well. If you like character studies, the finest cinematography around, the best script writing, excellent directing and feeling like you are a "fly on the wall" in the finest drama you have ever seen---buy this film. It never lets up, it never overdoes, it just gives you exactly what you need. And all without anyone blowing anyone elses brains out!

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