Unfaithful

Starring Diane Lane, Richard Gere, Olivier Martinez, Chad Lowe, and dominic Chianese

Directed by Adrian Lynne.

A sordid little drama of love, lust, betrayal, murder, sexy french guys with alluring accents, lots of rain, lots of doubt, lots of suspicion. Directed by Adrain Lynne of the famed Red Shoe Diaries, this film had the potential to turn into late Night HBO soft core materail. Thankfully, it does not. It is quite sensually charged, but as they say, tasteful. At least, as tasteful as a quickie in a New York coffee house bathroom can be. Mr. Lynne in fact makes great use of the perfect soft white skin of his leading lady. Lane never really needs to be naked to give us a sexually charged performance that is simply some of her best work. Her confusion and fear while making love to a man she should not are contrasted with moments of wanton abandon from her, and they are equally alluring and saddening. The shot of her stomach, bare and shaking as her lover lightly blows on her reveal an emotinal depth through physical acting that stays with the viewer (and not just men) thorughout the film. Gere’s soft and understated performance balances Lane’s fiery ups and sodden emotional downs interestingly as his frustration gets the better of him and his wife slips away. The couple’s ultimate dedication to each other, or at least to the idea that they started out with of their lives, is quite moving. Good performances by supporting cast round out a suprisingly subtle yet erotic film nicely. 4 cell phones