Dark Passage: Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals
Intensity permeates Tom Ford’s chilling 2016 thriller, Nocturnal Animals. Amy Adams stars as Susan, a wealthy L.A. art dealer, who’s married to the handsome Hutton (Armie Hammer). One day she receives a novel written by her ex-husband, Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal). He dedicates the devastating, deeply disturbing novel to her, which causes her, with every turn of the page, to reflect on her past actions (via flashbacks to Susan and Edward at the promising start of their relationship), present (unhappy) situation with Hutton, and her growing dissatisfaction with her career.
As Susan delves deeper, the viewer also sees the “story-within-a-story,” with Ford jolting the viewer back and forth between the sleek, cold confines of Susan’s ritzy home, and the isolated highways and barren backroads of West Texas, including some menacing inhabitants, that serve as the setting for Edward’s horrifying tale.
Although Nocturnal Animals is written and directed by the famous fashion designer, it offers, in part, provocative commentary on substance vs. style, romantic vs. pragmatic, enough vs. more, and sheds light on the harsh consequences when someone is consumed by the latter instead of the former.
Double Duty: Actors Who Sing; Singers Who Act
The latest telling of A Star is Born was released this weekend, starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. Some actors surprise audiences with their singing chops, while some singers do the same with their acting abilities. Here are a few memorable examples (by no means the only examples):
Actors who sing: Amy Adams (“If I Didn’t Care” from Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day; as Mary in The Muppets); Zooey Deschanel (lead singer of She & Him); Sissy Spacek and Beverly D’Angelo (as Loretta Lynn and Patsy Cline respectively in Coal Miner’s Daughter); Antonio Banderas (Evita); Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables); Eddie Murphy (Dreamgirls).
Singers who act: Diana Ross (Lady Sings the Blues); “Think” Aretha Franklin in The Blues Brothers; although Cher won an Academy Award for Moonstruck, her heartbreaking performance in Mask comes to mind; Madonna was born to play the lead in Evita and is impressive in the role, especially in The Lament scene; Will Smith, the rapper turned actor in Pursuit of Happyness (spoiler alert below, if you haven’t seen the film).