A Single Man

Fashion guru Tom Ford has reinvented himself as a filmmaker. Kimberly Gadette wonders: How's the fit?

A man is underwater. We see shots of his various limbs floating, without struggle, as if in surrender. As if in acceptance. The dream/nightmare ends as Colin Firth's George jolts awake, his eyes snapping open to greet another flat day – one more in a numbing parade of days that have been pummeling him ever since his lover Jim (Matthew Goode) died eight months ago in a car accident in the snow, far, far away from George.

Adding insult to injury, Jim's family doesn't even think to inform George. Instead, he receives a call from Jim's brother over 24 hours later. Mentioning his desire to fly out for the funeral, George is told that "the service is just for family." He then asks about the two fox terriers, his and Jim's beloved family pets that were traveling with Jim. The brother is confused, stating that only one had been found dead. He doesn't know anything about a second dog.

The opening underwater scene is a precursor to the sodden mood that pervades the entire film. In 1962, a "single man," happily coupled with another for sixteen years is somewhat of an anomaly. Take away the other, better half without so much as a kiss goodbye, destroy the dogs as well, and the survivor just may not want to survive.

And so Tom Ford's film, adapted from the Christopher Isherwood novel and rewritten from the David Scearce screenplay, examines the last day in the life of one desperately unhappy British college professor. Unable to control the events of his life, he's going to try his damnedest to have a say about his death.

Colin Firth strays from his Regency era romances and modern-day rom-coms to depict a bone-weary middle-aged man struggling under the weight of a life suddenly bereft of color. (Literally. Ford employs a fascinating piece of trickery with the film's palette: when the camera's on George, the wash is close to a monochrome.) It's not his despondency that moves us, but his kind regard of others, no matter his own personal pit of despair. How he treats his housekeeper; how he attempts to reach out to his slack-jawed students one more time; how he gently lets down his ravenous best girlfriend Charley (Julianne Moore), as she once again tries to seduce him. Firth gives us a beautifully measured performance, revealing the depth of his feelings in the subtlest of expressions as he experiences unexpected surprises on his supposed last day on the planet.

Played in flashback, Matthew Goode's Jim strikes a vibrant high note, his confidence and good humor lighting up the screen as he provides the life force that we desperately require in this cinematic requiem. The same can be said for Moore's Charley, though her life force verges on the manic. Her faux, high-pitched gaiety, well-marinated in Tanqueray, is especially chilling. (It's interesting to note that Moore has become the go-to-girl specializing in chasing after gay men: Far From Heaven, Savage Grace and now, A Single Man.)

Another historic note: other than Tom Ford, acclaimed for his 25 years in fashion with Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, this reviewer only found one other precedent in filmmaker Joel Schumacher (Flawless, Flatliners, Falling Down) who came from an early fashion career, entering the business as a costume designer.

It seems that Ford's fashion sensibility both helps and hinders him. The film is impeccably dressed and photographed, nearly sculpted in its precision. However, the heart is somewhat sterile. We never get to the guts of this story. It's more of a character examination, a mournful ramble, than a tale; hence, the problem is in the story itself. Ford the visual artist photographs eyes everywhere as if they're judging this particular "single man" ... judging him as a gay man? A potential suicide? But we don't see how the visual ultimately connects to the story – unless we start writing our own theories, such as how hard it might be for a gay man to find another companion in this hostile yesteryear. Yet in the third act George eases into a new friendship fairly quickly, negating much of his previous pain. Is he really all that grief-stricken? Or is he merely stuck and, with time, could very well move on?

Like a high-fashion supermodel posing on the pages of Vogue, the film is beautifully framed and photographed. But since this is a story, with moving pictures rather than static ones, we ultimately crave a whole lot more.

Rating on a scale of 5 fashion statements: 3

Release date: US: 25 December 2009; UK: 12 February 2010
Directed by: Tom Ford
Written by: Tom Ford, David Scearce
Based on the novel by: Christopher Isherwood
Cast: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode, Nicholas Hoult
Rating: US = R; UK = 12A
Running time: 101 minutes