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Weekly Archive > Weekend Read > 08/11/06
A Life of Slice
By james napoli
Conversations with Other Women
Gabrielle Zevin
Here's one script that somehow bypassed development. I mean, come on, there's no one to root for. The hero (Aaron Eckhart) is a philandering terminal adolescent who meets his long-lost ex-wife at a wedding, and thinks having sex with her will finally give his empty life meaning. The ex (Helena Bonham Carter) is no better: married with three kids, she nonetheless joins in the orchestration of the affair to work out her own petty issues. Not only that, the whole damn movie is told in split-screen, occasionally to introduce a flashback, but mostly (get this) both screens show essentially the same action at the same time! But here's the crazy part: it works. The split-screen nicely symbolizes two people who will always, despite their feeble attempts to deny it, occupy two separate worlds. And their pitiful, often superficial dance of guilt and swagger (occasionally too on-the-nose, but quite nicely observed by novelist-turned-screenwriter Zevin) manages to call to mind our own lives, and the lies we manufacture about the past to make the present bearable. In the end, you've got yourself a well- written relationship drama that transcends its visual gimmickry and even gets us thinking about what it's like to be human. When this kind of material has a $60 million opening weekend, we'll know the paradigm has finally shifted.
Conversations with Other Women
Fabrication Films
Rated R; 84 min.
Buy tickets now
James Napoli has a Masters Degree from the London International Film School, wrote and directed two award-winning short films, teaches a creative writing class for screenwriters, and is the head writer of live original radio plays for XM Satellite Radio's New Frequency.
Conversations with Other Women courtesy Fabrication Films
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