Chloe

I definitely liked this film more than a number of reviewers did. I always find Atom Egoyan's films interesting but haven't really liked one since 1997's The Sweet Hereafter; that's my favourite, with Exotica being next in line and now Chloe being third. Briefly, the story involves a married couple, played by Julianne Moore and Liam Neeson, whose marriage has become rather distant and unsatisfying, especially from her point of view. He's an attractive and popular college teacher, and she suspects him of having affairs with his students. So she hires a prostitute, played by the young, luminous and beautiful Amanda Seyfreid who's been in just about every other film these days, to seduce him so she can see how he reacts. That's all I'll say about the story, except that it isn't quite that straightforward, though I felt this was more linear and mainstream in content than Egoyan's films usually are. Beyond the outer storyline, though, I found it very thought-provoking about relationships and how we handle them: How much do we take for granted when things are going well and smoothly? How much do we believe the things we think we know with such certainty about each other? How much are we aware of our effect on other people? As well, I felt the tone set by the cinematography was very effective; though often the settings were dark and stark, they were sensual at the same time.