In Unfaithful, Diane Lane plays attractive housewife Connie Sumner. After almost ten years of marriage, Connie becomes bored with her comfortable home and predictable family life and begins a passionate affair with a French bookseller (Olivier Martinez). But when her husband (Richard Gere) learns of her infidelity, Connie’s life quickly plunges into the dangerous unknown.
Plot Analysis:
On the surface, the film's plot appears all too common. Connie’s liaisons with French bookseller Paul Martel take place all over New York City, from the artistic poverty of Martel’s loft to the gritty bathroom stalls of a small café. But women have had wanton sex before and films like Fatal Attraction and Dangerous Liaisons have already introduced characters with no moral boundaries. Unfaithful atones for the adulterous-housewife cliché by taking the repercussions of Connie’s actions to their logical extreme.
When heartbroken cuckold Edward Sumner learns of his wife’s affair, he reacts both passionately and aggressively. In any good drama, tragedy must occur, and Unfaithful produces an abundance of tragedy on numerous, gut-wrenching levels. Thus the film employs numerous carefully planned scenes to assure that Connie Sumner’s indiscretions must come to light and destroy her. As a whole, the filmappears less concerned with the growth of its characters than with the thoroughly orthodox sermon it conveys: do not have extramarital sex because very bad things will happen.
Characterization & Acting
Audiences will probably recognize every character in Unfaithful – bored wives, busy husbands, and so on. But most unfortunately, the film wastes no time in carving the Frenchman stereotype into stone. Connie Sumner naturally falls in love with the impoverished, accented, charmingly blunt, and hyper-sexualized Martinez. (It is probably only a matter of time before every husband in America develops a gripping fear of all things tall-dark-and-handsome.)
Yet Diane Lane, Richard Gere, and Olivier Martinez bring new life to characters that were perhaps not meant to breathe. Lane appears deliciously complicated, slapping her lover (Martinez) over and over again even as she pulls him close for some no-nonsense hip-grinding, then laughing through tears on the train as she reminisces about making love to him. Martinez smiles, flips his unnaturally perfect hair, and then offers Connie’s husband a drink when he comes to confront Martel about the affair. Even Gere, the sympathetic, heartbroken, cuckold conveys hostility and tenderness in equal measure, alternately gripping, pushing, and embracing his wife during a particularly intense dance at a party.
Setting & Music
The entire movie takes place in New York City and its surrounding boroughs. Yet the specific environment mirrors Connie’s intentions. For instance, while she remains faithful to her family, she appears in a clean, elegantly furnished home among carefully trimmed lawns and flowers in bloom. When she engages in her trysts with Paul Martel, she falls over and cuts her knee. The wind whips her hair into her face and literally blows trash and filth into her path. Just as with the plot, every piece of the mise en scene is obvious, but also direct.
The film’s score is consistently appropriate, employing sobbing violins to evoke both tragedy and passion. Particularly in moments of tension and anxiety, the pace of the music quickens and grows in pitch. But while the score works, it is also forgettable.
Length & Editing
At just over two hours, Unfaithful moves at a pace like a slow trot – not too fast, not to slow. The film takes its time developing a believable rapport between Connie and Paul, then beelines straight for the physical intimacy that characterizes their relationship. In a particularly moving scene halfway through, the film juxtaposes Connie and Paul’s first sexual encounter with Connie laughing and crying on her train ride home.
Overall Rating: 3.5/5
Unfaithful is a film worth watching at least once – not necessarily to hear the story, but to appreciate the effort and commitment with which Lane, Gere, and Olivier confronted their roles. This movie may not have been meant for more than cheap sexual thrills (or lessons on fidelity), but at the very least, it has three talented actors in good lighting, which makes it worth the time.
Read other movie reviews by Christine Hernandez.
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