In rural New South Wales, childhood friends and now mothers Roz (Robin Wright) and Lil (Naomi Watts) live a secluded existence. Their life seems idyllic: Roz runs an art-gallery, while Lil apparently does not work but manages quite well to pursue a good life as a widow. As the film develops, however, so both women fall for the other woman's sons: Roz falls in love with Lil's son Tom (James Frechville), and Lil falls in love with Roz's son Ian (Xavier Samuel). Both women try to end their respective affairs - in the belief that they are somehow wrong - but find themselves incapable of doing so, leading to heartache and loss. There are several reasons for watching TWO MOTHERS: the first being the stunning photography of a rural seaside landscape (by Christophe Beaucarne), full of sandy beaches and azure-blue seas. It's hardly surprising that none of the four protagonists really want to leave the place, even though Tom moves briefly to urban Sydney to pursue a career as a theater director. TWO MOTHERS also boasts four excellent performances: Watts and Wright are quite outstanding as the two mothers, their faces beginning to show the signs of middle age, yet retaining much of their youthful vigor. Director Anne Fontaine's camera scrutinizes their features as they ponder the morality of what they are doing, and desperately decide what to do for the best, while remaining true to their instincts. At the end of the film, when they consider what they have done, they do not say much, but the sequence comes across as incredibly poignant: Wright in the foreground, and Watts in the background trying to explain why she did what she did. The third main reason for watching the film is the sparse script - by Fontaine and Christopher Hampton after a work by Doris Lessing. The film makes no judgment on the characters' behavior'; rather it encourages us to reflect on how human emotions work, often in defiance of moral concerns. Perhaps the film is a touch too long - the ending tends to drag a little - but the final image of the four protagonists sitting sunbathing on a wooden raft, the camera placed directly above them, is a memorable one.
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jeansheridan29 March 2014I'm not surprised that mostly male critics panned this movie. Some of them were kind enough to call it well made trash. One reviewer said it had nothing in common with Doris Lessing's story and that reviewer clearly had not read the story in a very long time.
The movie exactly captures the feel of the novella. The beachy, cozy environment, the exclusiveness of these two families, the deep friendship between the women ...it's all in the novella. The sex is in the novella too, just not graphic, but it's clearly there.
This movie is a mood piece just like the novella. A glimpse into a very specific group of people. A bit of a "what if" in my opinion.
The novella has an equally ambivalent ending. I think it's a bit more downbeat than the movie, but still worth a read. She is one of the great feminist writers of the twentieth century. And it's a highly readable story. It's just all so cozy and seductive. -
FrostyChud29 April 2013The director of this movie is a Frenchwoman. Of course, in French, "mother" and "ocean" are homonyms.
Maybe it's just because I am celibate these days, but unlike some of the other reviewers, I saw a lot more morbidity here than I did desire.
One of the other reviewers praises Robin Wright's performance as a "strong woman". What? These women aren't strong...they are as craven and callow. They cede to the ultimate taboo: mother-son incest. Sure, they didn't quite officially cross that line...but they might as well have. The reason incest (by hook or by crook) is taboo has nothing to do with inbreeding...it is because it leads to subjective ruin. Nothing has quite the same devastating effect on one's subjectivity as a blurring of this one particular line. I thought that the film was a success here: what happens to these four characters is catastrophic. Two stunted, brainless male children...two decadent aging women who continue to giggle like preteen girls when they are together. Try to imagine these monsters in twenty years. Notice that no one is interested in anything...yes, we see cursory hints that they are interested in something besides fusion with each others' bodies (the art gallery, the yacht business, the theater stuff) but all of it is strictly external to the characters. They never use language with each other for any reason other than to seduce each other. This loss of the liberating force that is Logos is the consequence of incest. If you cross this line, you are ruined for the outside world...all that's left is your little floating island in the ocean. These two women with their endless glasses of wine, their silly giggling, their vanity, their narcissism...are nothing less than evil. Their sons are not likable either, and even though they are both portrayed as instigators in the narrow sense of the word, they are by definition victims. The failure of their respective attempts to break away from the womb can be laid at the feet of these two women who refuse to sacrifice anything for their precious pleasure. I am thinking of the scene where Ian spills the beans and sends the wives and babies running for the hills. When Ian claims, rightfully, that he was just telling the truth, Roz reproaches him with some chilling sophistry about "hurting people" or whatever. The director does a good job here of illustrating, without needing to belabor the point, how incest and Logos/subjectivity are incompatible, and how even if you do your best to tell the truth, the situation is in itself so dishonest as to be irredeemable through acknowledgment of any sort.
I took a couple of stars off because the pacing is a little slow. The actors are all good. The audience laughed when the two wives found out what was going on...I doubt that was the director's intention. -
"Adore" is the newest film by BAFTA-nominated director Anne Fontaine, probably the most known Luxemburger in the movie industry these days. And just like her earlier works, this film is a mostly female-centered character study of interpersonal relationships that can be considered abysmal or perfectly normal depending on what's your approach to the topic and point of view.
The story is summarized quickly. We get to witness two best friends (Watts and Wright) who fall in love with each other's sons, best friends themselves. Of course this kind of relationship is quite a taboo, so they keep it secret knowing it will run out at some point anyway when the boys inevitably find partners their age. But will it really? Here and there, the movie has a weakness, like how it's almost impossible to make the aging of Wright's and Watts' characters look appropriate for the giant jumps in time. With the boys they did an okay job with their change in clothes and style, but for the women it was quite a challenge too tough to master. As a whole though, the film was not revolutionary or particularly must-watch in any way, but I'd still recommend it. The good acting as well as the interactions over the years between the characters involved in that love square (is that the right term? just imagine a love triangle with a fourth corner) make it worth a watch, mainly because of the forbidden fruit character, but also because of those poor souls more or less involved with everybody of the four: the husband, the colleague in the first half, and the two girls in the second half. Another thing I like about it is how it really offers room for discussion:
Should they have split up right away when things started? Could they even?
Was the reaction of Wright's character appropriate the moment Watts' character was left for a younger girl? I'd say no. This part really bothered me. Why make that sacrifice if attraction and love are still there. Too far-fetched for my taste.
Are their actions morally wrong initially? Should Watts' character have told her best friend about them coming back together? And what about the ending? How will things go on from then?
I personally believe none of the characters is really to blame as they just followed their hearts. Should they have acted against this urge only because of social conventions? I say as long as there's no incest involved, which obviously wasn't here, every man is the architect of his own fortune.
On a final note, it could be added that Doris Lessing, Nobel prize winner and writer of the original book, which was adapted for this film, died earlier this year way into her 90s. Quite a pity. It would have been interesting to see what she had to say about this movie. I say it's 100 entertaining minutes. -
Hellmant12 September 2013'ADORE': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)
'ADORE' is one of those screwed up movies that shows us very flawed characters doing very questionable things but it still can be seen as a very well made and effective movie. It tells the tale of two mothers, who have been best friends since childhood, and each raised a son, who were best friends since childhood as well, and then began sexual relations with each other's newly adult son. The film stars Naomi Watts and Robin Wright as the two mothers ('TWO MOTHERS' was also the original title of the film) and Xavier Samuel and James Frecheville as their two sons. It also co-stars Ben Mendelsohn as the father of Frecheville's character (the two also played relatives in another Australian indie film from 2010 called 'ANIMAL KINGDOM'). Watts also executive produced the movie, which was adapted from the 2003 British novella 'The Grandmothers' by Doris Lessing. It was directed and co-written (with Christopher Hampton) by Anne Fontaine. Hampton has also written and co-written such steamy sexual relations tales as 'DANGEROUS LIAISONS', 'ATONEMENT' and 'THE QUIET American' and Fontaine also directed and co-wrote the 2003 French erotica drama 'NATHALIE'. The film is undoubtedly thought provoking and interesting but it might leave you wanting to take several showers.
Watts plays Lil and Wright plays Roz, two women (in their mid-forties) who grew up best friends next door to each other in the same beach town. They each have a son who has now reached adulthood; Ian (Samuel) and Tom (Frecheville). Ian and Tom grew up as neighbors in the same town as well (living with their mothers) and are now best friend surfing buddies. Lil was widowed when Ian was young but Roz still lives with her husband (and Tom's father), Harold (Mendelsohn). Harold gets a new job in Sydney, without telling Roz, and when he expects her and Tom to move with him the two stay behind (while Harold moves) to think about it. When Harold is away Roz and Ian begin a steamy affair. Tom finds out about it and gets revenge on Ian by sleeping with Lil. Things get more complicated as both mothers develop strong feelings for each other's sons (and vice versa). Passionate sex ensues until things become even more complicated.
The movie deals with subject matter that is of course taboo and some have argued that if the roles had been reversed (and it had been about two dads sleeping with each other's young adult daughters) the film would have been universally hated. This is a valid argument; there is a double standard when it comes to women having sex with younger men as opposed to men having sex with younger women. When guys do it they're seen as creepy perverts and when women do it they're seen as bold and just exploring their sexuality and youth again. Still what the characters do in this movie is not acceptable by anyone's standards (or shouldn't be); sleeping with a friend's kid (that you've know since they were a baby and basically helped raise) is wrong. Especially when you're still married like Robin Wright's character is in the movie. You can't judge a film by the actions of it's characters though. It's also not a film's job to answer moral questions; it's only it's duty to raise them and leave it up to the viewer to decide. This film does an excellent job of giving us very flawed characters doing extremely questionable things. It's well made and well acted; disturbing but definitely worth the watch.
Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6PeSUJEcyg -
kranthi-askani2 September 2013It is novelistic, and by that i don't mean it is dreadfully slow. The movie is quiet yes, but, it is also sufficiently visual to free up the tensions that characters face.
If you thought it was going to be erotic then you won't like it. It is much like eva green's 'womb' insofar that the movie is keen in keeping the audience attention within the spectrum of possibilities that are available to the characters.
so if you were to exclaim - oh, come on, this kinda thing never happens. well, you may have a point but that doesn't undermine the quality of the movie -
Nanosecond10 May 2014I'm okay with watching a movie about selfish, sex-obsessed characters with no redeeming qualities whatsoever (i.e. Wolf of Wall Street; American Psycho) BUT it has to come from an honest place within the story and not a contrivance the writer thought would be cool because it's taboo. Every moment, every beat of this movie is forced and it's a shame because Naomi's and Robin's performances are breathtaking but the journey their characters take lead them right back to square one. They learn nothing at the end and it seems the only reason this film was made was to get a rise out of audiences.
--Spoilers past this point--
Two best friends (who may or may not have gone past first base when they were little girls) grow up, marry, and have children. Now, I'm assuming they led a life in all that time. They dated boys during their teen years, had a vigorous sex life, settled down, married, had kids, and carried on with their professional careers. But the film sloppily fast forwards in time and shows the now 40-ish mothers on the beach ogling their sons surfing waves as if they've never seen them before or in a half-dressed setting. Maybe it would have worked for me if the mothers were bicoastal (however that works in Australia) and hadn't seen each other or each other's sons in years then maybe, just maybe, you could make the argument that they'd see the 20 year old sons in a different, more sexual light. But that's a big, hard, wet, tight maybe.
Surprisingly, the pacing of the film is great but the stilted plot overshadows it. Why is Ian so into Roz? Is it because he's still in grieving trying to get over the death of his father? Is it because he hates his mother Lil? Is it because he's trying desperately to mask his homosexual feelings for his best mate Tom? The film never hints at any of these reasons but I feel any of these options would have been better than what we are given...which is nothing. Ian's into Roz because the script says so and thus it must be.
It might be easier to answer why Roz might initially be into a Ian, a handsome young man, but after the one-night stand turns into a "relationship" we're never given her reasons for carrying on as she does. Wait, I forgot, we are given one reason...the script says so and thus it must be. We ARE given a valid reason why Tom sleeps with Ian's mom Lil: sexual revenge. And we are shown scenes with Lil at best rebuking Tom's advances and at worst hesitantly accepting them, but after their one-night stand it never makes sense why Tom continues with the relationship when Lil was never on his radar to begin with and he could easily sleep with any girl his age without even trying. Ian slips Roz sexual glances and flirts with her by sharing a cigarette right before they partake in their dalliance. This never happens with Tom and Lil. Therefore, I am left to presume Tom only meant to sleep with Lil because he wanted to get Ian angry and make him feel the same pain he felt. But, alas, Tom's plan backfires because he actually falls in (temporary?) love with Lil. Why? Because the script says so and thus it must be. In the end, what we are left with are two couples who can't see past their own genitals to recognize the pain they are inflicting upon their innocent children and spouses (aka insufferable, unforeseen, insignificant others).
I'm perplexed as to the reasons why the writer/director Anne Fontaine wished to make this film. Something tells me it was for "selfish" reasons. Maybe Anne was personally going through something and wanted to explore the end result through this fiction. I hope she found her answer because I certainly didn't. -
Emma_Stewart18 August 2013A fascinating, intellectual and profound exploration of the psyches of four uniquely damaged characters: two boys who never quite left the womb, growing up in a small and affluent community far removed from reality, with one father figure MIA, the other passive and disconnected, and only their mothers for comfort and company; and two women, who never conquered their fears of aging or their struggles with self-esteem and sexual confidence, and whose intimate love for each other and need to feel young and desired manifest themselves in dangerous liaisons with each other's sons.
The premise is disturbing and unrealistic but a major strength of the film is that the characters' actions feel believable and understandable: but never condoned or really condemned. We are given such insight into their island-like community, their lifestyles, their dynamics and their psyches that it's perfectly clear why they fall into these simultaneously symbiotic and parasitic relationships. There is a nuance and an apathy to the directing that encourage the audience to focus more on the "how" and "why" rather than the "what." The film is never sexy or erotic because there is so much loneliness, pain and desperation in the sex scenes. The ocean metaphors strengthen the storytelling but never overwhelm it, and there is one particularly profound scene when Watts and Wright's granddaughters are lifted out of the very water that pulled them under and destroyed them.
The film lags around the mid-point, once the quartet has fallen into a rhythm and so there is no more conflict or tension, but picks up again once their group dynamic and Watts' character's happiness are threatened. The ending is disconcerted and unexpected, but on reflection, given the film's themes and the characters' self- destructiveness, it couldn't have convincingly ended any other way.
Wright and Watts do career-best work here (people who think Watts is often overwrought will like her here, I think) - both give understated but incredibly complex performances and create living, breathing, three- dimensional people out of these initially unbelievable women. Their guilt, neediness and agony are ever-present in their eyes even as the characters try to remain composed and rational. The boys aren't given as much to do but Xavier Samuel perfectly captures the confidence and faux-invulnerability of adolescence. It's also the first time Watts has laughed on screen in what must be years now, which is nice to see!
Overall, in spite of some silly dialogue, it's riveting, labyrinthine, and unique - it's been a very long time since an English-language film explored female sexuality and psychology as intimately and impartially as this one does. It feels more at home with 90's French dramas like La belle noiseuse and La cérémonie than it does in 2013. I'm not entirely surprised it's received such a hateful and crude reaction online, but it has a lot more to offer than a controversial setting, and I hope audiences will be able to look past the premise and see it not as an "issue film" but as the perceptive and devastating character study that it really is. -
volatileresidue20 November 2013This movie is absolutely hilarious. I mean honestly, I can't remember laughing out so loud watching any movie in the last couple of years. The premise of having sex with your friend's mom (sounds like a script of Naughty America?) who knew you since childhood is what appeared unbearably funny. The climaxes unfolded with hilarious ambiance. Take for instance, the scene when Roz's son arrives home to tell her that he'd been banging Lil - just like Lil's son Ian was banging her. The slap which follows that statement was a moment of jubilation of silverscreen history! Furthermore, as Lil and Roz have an ecstatic conversation about how much they're enjoying the passionate sex with each other's sons, I literally fell down from the couch! I was at one point apprehending a moment when the four of them actually go about making out with each other, I mean golly gee, that wouldn't have surprised me at all. But this is real entertainment! You just can't beat the premise of two best friends having sex with each other's sons, who also happen to be each other's best friends!
This movie is a must watch! -
Likes_Ninjas9018 November 2013The characters in Adoration (previously called Adore and Two Mothers at various film festivals), belong in their own isolated little world that is self-absorbed, irresponsible and one that I had little interest visiting. French director Anne Fontaine (Coco Before Chanel) and British screenwriter Christopher Hampton (Atonement) come to the conclusion that some people are afraid of growing old and would prefer to spend their days with those who are much younger. They abandon their social responsibilities and families, so they can play together at the beach. This is a film that seems divorced from any moral sensibilities. In the film's production notes it says that the unjudging hand of its filmmaker was deliberate. This film needed serious judgment: someone to rewrite the underwritten draft of the script and to have a firmer opinion on these terribly unappealing characters.
Christopher Hampton's script, adapting from Doris Lessing's novel The Grandmothers, lacks plausible psychology and context for the film's two female characters and their love circle. Naomi Watts plays Lil, who is recently widowed because her husband died in a car accident. She lives by the beach, next door to her childhood friend Roz (Robin Wright), and they lazily watch their two sons Ian (Xavier Samuel) and Tom (Animal Kingdom's James Frecheville) catch the waves. Roz's husband is Harold (Ben Mendelsohn), who is concerned that she spends more time with her best friend than with him. He wants her to move with him to the city because he's accepted a job as a teacher. The two boys have few prospects besides surfing, so Harold encourages Tom to become involved with a stage play.
The only distinguishable traits of Lil and Roz are that they are two Peter Pan figures, living an impossibly sheltered inner life. Roz works at an art gallery (rarely seen) and Lil's inner life involves a yacht company, where she is pursued by Saul (Gary Sweet), who she finds boring. The film's romance isn't between the two women, they assure us they aren't lesbians, but between themselves and each other's sons. They romance the two boys because they're both resisting adult lives. They reject future prospects with two older, more stable men because they want to remain young and free (shallow). What is sympathetic or attractive about that? It's not that this is creepy, though some might think so, but that the relationship grows increasingly unrealistic, selfish and short-sighted. It fails to make you understand the mental attraction, particularly from the boy's side, besides the physicality and the casualness of it, as one of the women describes it. Why would these young, funky surfer dudes be interested in sharing their intimate social lives with their mothers?
One of the other fatal narrative choices made by Hampton is that after initiating the romance, the film decides to fast forward two years into the future. This dilutes potential conflict and reactions to the relationships from the older characters like Harold. Fast forwarding also reveals the limitations of the story's driving motor. The original source material is composed of four short stories and like a lot of films attempting to expand limited material it feels overstretched as a full length feature. The love circle aside, there are actually very few risks taken with the dramatic beats of the story. They seem predictable to everyone except the leads. Tom starts spending time with Mary (Jessica Tovey), a girl from the play he's working on. This makes Lil feel old and worried he's not interested in her anymore. Why does it surprise her that a young man would find someone closer to his own age? The awkward time shift also means that a pivotal side character, Sophie Lowe's Hannah, is belatedly introduced and is underwritten, with no backstory or personal geography.
The performances from some normally reliable talents do little to strengthen our sympathy and help us understand the characters. Naomi Watts and Robin Wright smoke, giggle and drink a lot but also come across as a pair of juvenile airhead teenagers. Is this intentional? Both Xavier Samuel and James Frecheville are given terribly uninteresting and inexpressive roles, spending most of the film surfing and being underserviced by flat dialogue. "I love her", says Ian with laughable, deadening seriousness after his first encounter with Roz. Behind the camera, Fontaine's only stylistic choices are the attractive wide framing of a consistently deserted beach, and contrasting these shots with a tighter lens in the household. This is an obvious contrast between the freedom of the beach and the adult life. The film is interminably long, poorly paced, and concludes with an ending that is frustratingly detached from comprehensible human behaviour and personal responsibility. What exactly do these characters plan to do when the tide is low or bluntly, when they're too old to be running around a beach together? -
flydocfly19 January 2013This lovely movie was based on Doris Lessing's short story "The Grandmothers". I just saw the premiere at Sundance and absolutely loved it. Supposedly inspired by a true story, it's about two mothers who really like their son's best friend (their best friend's son) And that tag line is what you'll hear all about. Oh, the horror. I imagine middle age male reviewers will not particularly like this movie, though gay men will most likely love it. But it's a film about women--their friendships, husbands, relationships, sons and lovers. It's directed by Anne Fontaine, a French woman (which explains the exorbitant number of scenes with smoking cigarettes, and an insanely un-American story concept that young men might be attracted to older women.)
It's beautifully crafted (gorgeous cinematography) and has intelligent editing (watch for the skillful matched cuts that "age" the characters). The performances are all around great. Robin Wright is amazing--it's an Oscar caliber performance, however, the film probably won't get a large enough release to be on the radar for awards (sort of like poor John Hawkes not getting nominated for "The Sessions", what was the Academy thinking?) Of course, setting the movie in Australia means the other main character is the location. Tanned surfing teenage boys with model-beautiful mothers in bikinis, cowabunga mate (and significantly less handsome husbands and admirers, thankfully not shown in Speedos.)
There was laughter in the screening in places unexpected by the director, but this was probably just anxious laughter by viewers unaccustomed to thinking about middle aged women having sexual and emotional interest in younger men. Actually, I felt the laughter lightened up the viewing experience, and made the characters more human (okay, so I laughed and cried in this movie, but I never laughed at it.) At almost every story point where an expected turn would happen (if following Hollywood development script notes) the writer took what I call the "elegant decision" and pleasantly surprised me.
This is all around superb filmic story telling. Brilliant performances, intelligent and gentle direction, spectacular scenery, highly professional technical craftsmanship, and (for most of us, I expect) new emotional territory. It's a great film. I truly hope you get to see it. -
erikanoox4 May 2018The scenery in the film was beautiful. However, there were some cringe worthy lines and scenes, the development of the plot was not very smooth...at times very cliche, and I did not exactly understand the ending - at one point, I even wondered if they could possibly be dead because they looked quite lifeless. Nonetheless, it was a pretty scene, good enough to make it to the cover of the film. I also agree with other reviewers that there was an absence of character development. I think my main motivation for finishing the movie was the beautiful actresses and actors plus the magnificent scenery. Don't think I would watch it again, but that's just me!
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SnoopyStyle28 August 2014Lil (Naomi Watts) and Roz (Robin Wright) are two lifelong friends living their idyllic beach life. Lil had lost her husband years ago. Roz is married to Harold (Ben Mendelsohn). Harold is moving to Sydney for a new job and expects his family to come with him. Their kids Ian (Xavier Samuel) and Tom (James Frecheville) are grown young men. Then one summer, the mothers develop relationships with the other's son.
There are so many problems with this movie. There is no subtleties here. We're just plowing through this thing. There is just a fraction of a second thought. It starts quickly with lines like "They're like young Gods." Then there is a lack of appreciation of the story inherent pulpiness. It treats the story so seriously. For this kind of dysfunction to feel real, this needs some real pre-existing dysfunctional relationships. It's just so beachy, sunny, and beautiful. It's both so lite and so heavy at the same time. This is the essence of beautiful people's problems. They don't have real problems so they have to create them. Although there are some great actors, there is little life in this movie. The movie is not as edgy as it thinks it is. -
atlasmb3 January 2016Many of the reviews for this film seem polarized. Either they find it heroic or they despise it. I don't think it deserves either response.
The story explores the results of two contentious and dangerous relationships. There is suspense because there is an element of inevitability and it's just a matter of WHEN the house of cards collapses due to a mistake or poor judgment.
The acting is good. The conflicting feelings are believable. The writing is good--not because it advocates a point of view, but because it allows the characters to travel on a journey that feels possible and, sometimes, probable.
The film is set on beachfront property and it provides a beautiful and natural background that is also sensual.
There are many story lines what could have been cheesy or pandering, but the film remarkably feels set in a reality of consequences. -
filmchaser8 September 2013It all starts with a bond between two little girls, Roz and Lil, that continues well into adulthood, marriage, and motherhood. It appears the two main characters Roz (played by Robin Wright) and Lil (played by Naomi Watts)led similar lives with similar timing and managed to, live next door to each other in an idyllic, isolated beach front community, where each had one child...at the same time...and the child for both was a boy, and the boys grew up to be best friends. The two women work in the same community they live in, and spend a significant amount of time together having dinner, wine, and walking the beach together. Their sons, who look like young gods, spend all day surfing before retiring to dinner, wine, and sometimes living room dancing with their mothers. Within this tightly knit foursome, age, maturity, and boundaries slowly and almost imperceptibly evaporate as the two best friends find themselves doing what they've always done...what the other one does. Ben Mendelsohn plays Harold, the husband of Roz, who treats Harold like an after thought. When Harold announces to Roz that he has been offered the job of his dreams, and that the family will have to move to Sydney for his job, Roz decides she loves where she lives more than she loves her husband of several years and they begin separate lives, leaving the two mothers and two sons together in paradise. This is the perfect (and unrealistic) set up for what follows. Other than the fact that two young men who look like Ian and Tom would be swamped with young girls their own ages, and that these two young men would have normal social lives with their peers, and that boys their ages don't usually hang out and drink with their mothers, it's plausible that an attraction could start between a young, handsome man and his mother's attractive best friend who he has known all his life. But for it to happen once, then happen twice within the same foursome in addition to all the facts that have to line up in the set up of this story, is just too much to ask the viewing audience to believe. Later in the movie when Roz throws her son a birthday party, her house is full of people, and I have to wonder, where did they all come from? and why do none of them know about these secret May-December affairs? or if they do, does it matter at all? Later I find out it does matter, when both boys eventually meet and marry women their own ages and father a daughter each, of the same age. It matters a lot to the wives. So the two best friends, who are now grandmothers, lose access to their grandchildren, which seems to be the only penalty for continuing the sexual relationships with their respective sons. And so they all (4) are left with each other. Wright and Watts are superb, and manage to carry off the characters flawlessly. Mendelsohn has maybe all of 10 minutes of screen time, which is a shame, as he is such a talented actor and is a pleasure to watch in any film he's ever been in. Samuels and Frencheville are certainly handsome, and have their clothing off more than on, so the female viewing audience has some idea of the temptation poor Roz and Lil are up against, and how difficult it must be to resist that temptation. The cinematography is awesome. Life seems very perfect, but for the fact that these two mothers are having sex with each other's sons, and nobody seems too upset about it. In fact, both Roz and Lil are very accepting of it. Harold eventually moves on and has a new family to love and to love him back, and nobody ever tells him what is going on, not even his son. I'm not saying this couldn't happen, but where I'm from, somebody would at least be angry. Somebody eventually does get angry. It's Ian, when Roz says it cannot continue and it's over. Weirdly, she only does that because Tom has cheated on Lil with another girl his own age, and Lil is wounded because it's over for her and Tom. So Roz ends her relationship with Ian. So in the end, the story seems to be about two best friends whose friendship is all consuming and without boundaries, no matter the sacrifices. If that's not what it's about, then I really didn't get it. Great acting, beautiful setting, an enjoyable film to watch...just not very believable.
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billurayata1 April 2021A big taboo turned out a great film.. sorry to see the bad reviews, I bet it would be the opposite if that was a festival award winning french movie.
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Pathetic, glossy film of 4 brain dead who are, oh so shockingly, oh so interestingly, having sex with one another. These 4 lobotomy cases do nothing all day except go to parties, screw around, and sigh over their miserable life. Forget about having jobs or actually having a real life. The dialogues sound like they have been copied from some class B soft erotic film of the 80's (Blue Lagoon, or Paradise ?). Zero character development, zero script depth, but after all why would they need them, it's all about showing pretty faces and bodies (possibly blond, of course). A porn film would have had more dignity.
I fortunately watched this on a plane, otherwise I would have seriously been furious for the money thrown away. -
Let me start with saying that when the movie was finished and the lights were on again, I did not want it to end. I wanted to see what would happen even afterwards, I wanted it to continue. I was stunned to my seat with lot of thoughts and emotions.
Plot: Two lifelong friends and mothers - Lil, who is a widower and Roz, who is married - whose bonds go back to their childhood, adore each other and their sons. Their sons are also best friends and during one summer evening after wine and fun Roz and Ian (Lil's son) are getting attracted to each other. Passion takes them into unknown and questionable territory - they have sex. Tom (Roz's son) sees his mother leaving Ian's room and Tom takes the news to Lil. It doesn't take long for Lil and Tom to fall into the same pattern.
There are hesitations, but these do not last long and the secret relationships continue until the plot takes you to 2 years later when Tom goes to Sydney. His visit to Sydney changes everything for four of them - the nasty truth has its way to come out and alter everybody's happy lives.
I loved the story. It was dramatic, heartbreaking, beautiful and sad. I loved the relationships and how these were handled in the movie. It's a story where you have high doubts about happy endings. But the plot and the director kept surprising you and it asked a lot of important questions. What kind of love is acceptable? Does age matter? Can people handle the consequences of their own actions and do these make them happy? Is it allowed to fall passionately in love when you are middle-aged? Why are people willing to give up on love even though they do not want to do that, but know it's the only reasonable thing to do? Is it love when you do what you think is best and hurt the one you love with that? All these and many other questions were raised and it is up to the viewer to decide and find the answers to them. What I loved about Adore was exactly, that the answers were not given to you, it woke a lot of thoughts.
Adore was filled with interesting relationships. My favorite was the relationship between Roz and Ian and it broke my heart to see what people do to the ones they love. Roz wanted to give Ian free because of her loyalty to Lil and because she wanted that Ian could enjoy his young life. The sad thing was, that Ian did not want that freedom, he ached for Roz for years, he loved her. Roz did what she felt was right and suffered because of that.
When you look at the relationship between Lil and Tom, it was simpler, but not easier for that matter. There were more secrets and these secrets hurt the not only themselves, but also Ian and Roz.
Adore is a movie about love and betrayal and relationships.
Directing, sets: I have seen few other movies directed by Anne Fontaine and Adore proved once again, than she is one of the best female contemporary directors. I personally think she did an excellent work with the movie.
The settings in the New South Wales in Australia were beautiful. There were lot of scenes on and nearby the sea and beach. It was absolutely breathtaking! Casting and the ensemble: Both Naomi Watts and Robin Wright belong to my long-time favorites and the delivered exactly and more what I expected from them. Bigger surprises were the young men playing Ian and Tom - Xavier Samuel and James Frecheville. I truly liked how they played their characters, they had quite a big tasks with these roles and they were believable and natural as Ian and Tom. Very suitable cast in my opinion.
Generally: Adore is a controversial movie. I think there are people who would love the imbroglio of relationships and friendships and then there are the ones who would judge them. I belong to the first group. I really enjoyed the drama! -
manoseimenis10 June 2020Very sensitive subject, adorable scenery, brilliantly directed, perfect acting by all. Nice, emotional and entertaining film.
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Blandons22 November 2018Well done. Well acted. But it is all events without exploration of those events. There is not enough dialog to explore how characters are reacting to their situation. At one point the boys fight, one trying to drown the other. The cause of the fight is never explained or explored. People get hurt. Relationships are damaged. But the film doesn't explore how the main four characters feel about the damage they've caused. The male actors seem to cast for their bodies not their acting abilities. Ultimately disappointed with characters that are depicted as apathetic, remorseless and selfish.
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john-529-63029112 January 2014I almost didn't watch this film due to its average rating and some of the reviews here. I suspect the negative reviews have more to do with people rigid world views and moral inclinations than actual capacity to distinguish any kind of subtlety in the way the story unfolds.
Interestingly it doesn't actually unfold as one would expect and as some commentators have claimed.
Naomi Watts acting is excellent and the emotions she conveys make the story believable.
As for the 2 young surfer dudes, one of them actually looks a bit like Julian Wilson (Top pro surfer) which should be a pleasant surprise for the ladies out there.
The location, beach houses, cinematography are beautiful and makes you want to move to Australia. Just for that the movie is worth watching. -
playboi-966784 January 2017I thought this was a really good movie.
Whats bullshit is Netflix has movies like this with 1 or 2 stars that people don't watch and pass up because of the low ratings. I wish they would give IMDb ratings so that I could really gauge what to give a chance.
But anyways, again I thought it was a really good movie, with a realistic plot and story line. I thought it would have a "lifetime" feel to it but it had a life of its own.
If you don't have much to do, and you have an hour or two on your hands to watch a movie, I suggest this one. -
The movie may have been well done, but epitomizes a subtle double standard in relationships (I'll point out at the end). These characters are all to common now in my country. The shallow juvenile characters who refuse to grow up or even act their age, and then pass on that legacy to their children by becoming their lovers. Two hot actresses(and good ones I might add) to play the "cougars" and some young virile metro sexual men to play their boy toys. This movie I can see as a fantasy scenario for real life people who have difficulty coming to terms with aging, so entertaining from that perspective surely. Even the dialogue is on par with how relationships like these transpire in real life.
Have to side with FrostyChud on this one. I'd say read his review, for I will only add this. Let's imagine a situation where its not older women but older men doing the same thing. Hopefully that will get the point across. -
lyzeeslifehacks3 March 2022Very bold move, making a movie like this. I found it moving, ballsy, very inn-appropriate, yet couldn't take my eyes off the screen. Well done!
This movie is based on the book, The Grandmothers. I am glad they ended up doing the movie based on Mothers, otherwise I'm afraid the attraction would be very limited (no offence to the lovely Grans and Nans out there)! -
j254414 December 2019I didn't love this-there were certain scenes that kind of "pulled me out of the movie" a little because they were acted sort of badly or were just entirely implausible (it kind of felt like the movie was trying to be realistic but at the same time not being plausible). The plot line wasn't the greatest either. That being said, it's not like it wasn't fun to watch. The actors are incredibly attractive and depicted in a sensual way. The setting is an amazing Australian beach city, which was a positive element to the movie for me. Also they all have Australian accents which was refreshing. It's not trash, but it isn't very good either. Something to pass the time I guess.