A Single Man [12A]

Yes a lovely piece of cinematography. But I prefer this style as a 3 minute perfume advert.

Seems to split men 50:50 from what my mates have remarked. Some love it, some think it's hollow and lacking substance. Others think it's the best thing. Colin Firth was brilliant, and it's a real shame he didn't get an oscar.

moviemoghul (DI User), 14/03/10

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A beautiful film: great cinematography, terrific acting, beautiful costumes and very moving.This is Is one of those films that you'll remember for a long time afterwards and it makes you realise that you really should live each day as if it's your last.

Colin Firth was wonderful as the broken hearted middle aged academic (and I've known a few - not broken hearted though!). Julianne Moore plays his best friend who has a close and loving relationship with alcohol - she was great and in not one scene did she have to appear sober. Her makeup was stunning.

Highlight of the film: Colin Firth removing his shirt. (Yes! I'm shallow)
Lowlight of the film: The end

Hope it wipes the board at the Oscars.

MrsH (Unverified), 04/03/10

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All the award buzz for A Single Man has centred on Colin Firth, and I feared that this would be like last year’s The Wrestler, i.e. a stand-out performance in a forgettable film. In fact it’s a beautiful piece of work in all departments.

Firth plays George, a gay English professor at a Californian university, pole-axed by the death of his partner of 16 years in a car wreck. This being 1962, the rest of the US is in the grip of the Cuban missile crisis, fitting context for a film which asks how it’s possible to live when one cannot imagine a future. George certainly can’t find a way forward at first, and we see him on what seems to be the last day of his life as he makes meticulous plans to kill himself. However, he is knocked off this trajectory by three people – a hustler in a parking lot, his neighbour Charlie (Julianne Moore), and a curious student (Nicholas Hoult). Perhaps he can escape the tyranny of the clock by other means, and allow the immediate rewards of friendship, spontaneity, and beauty to sustain him for the moment.

Appropriately for a film that celebrates the sensual, A Single Man is an aesthetic treat in itself, particularly on the Phoenix's digital print. Tom Ford has spoken about having 'crushes’ on his cast, and the camera certainly seems to be in love with them too – Moore has never looked better, and Hoult (formerly of Skins) is beyond ravishing. Their perfection is almost overdone, with a couple of scenes betraying Ford’s designer day job in their resemblance to cologne ads. Ultimately, though, the film is a seductive indulgence which walks as it talks, making the world a little richer for its existence.

Young Offender (Unverified), 15/02/10

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Highly recommended. A truly memorable film. The film is both thoughtful and compassionate, and has at its heart (in many senses) a remarkable performance by Colin Firth who provides a performance full of both pathos and energy. He is ably supported by Julianne Moore as his slightly dipsomaniac friend and confidante. It is beautifully shot and the background recreation of early 1960's America has been painstakingly researched and imaginatively used. A mannered and cultured film. Firth deserves his Oscar nomination and if there was justice in the world (and there isn't) he would win.

batman (Unverified), 15/02/10

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