A remake of a 2003 French film Natalie… that starred Fanny Ardant, Emmanuelle Beart and Gerard Depardieu. Atom Egoyan transposes the French tale of marital infidelity to high-falutin’ locales in downtown Toronto (the AGO, the ROM, Little Italy and Yorkville all feature prominently) where gynecologist Catherine (Julianne Moore) suspects her professorial husband David (Liam Neeson) is unfaithful, so hires a beautiful young escort Chloe (Amanda Seyfried) to try and seduce him. At this point in his career, Egoyan can do the complex depths of trauma and sexuality blindfolded, so a stylish, adult story of lust and trust is the least to expect, delivered with a cast at the tops of their respective games. I was sold, right until the final few scenes, when the less-convincing thriller elements overcame the drama. Chloe screens 7pm Thursday night at the Oxford.
This article appears in Sep 17-23, 2009.