As shallow and over-produced as a Tony Scott film from the ‘90s, the big difference being that ultra-sophisticated director Luca Guadagnino knows he’s playing in the kiddie pool. And that helps make this tennis-oriented DESIGN FOR LIVING good fun most of the way. (Till a confused ending past the 2 hour mark floods the engine.) Mike Faist (pale, fit) and Josh O’Connor (less pale, equally fit) go from college to early 30s most convincing as BFFs and rivals on and off the tennis court, gaining and losing favor with fellow racketeer Zendaya whose knee injury will chase her from player to coach. But which boy will she choose? Especially after the one she married & mentored to fame & glory gets stuck in a late career slump while their former pal, who’s barely hanging on, has his rival’s number where it counts. That’s about it for plot. (Unlike DFL there’s no safe outsider to take our mistress away from both guys which leaves the storyline feeling thinner than the stars’ waistlines.) Scripter Justin Kuritzkes comes up with a few twists you don’t see coming, but Guadagnino doesn’t trust them and thinks he has to cover with a jumping timeline and too many odd POV shots. (What? You didn’t know tennis balls had POVs?) And the sex plays like a feature layout for Men’s Health when it needs Euro-frankness rather than Hollywood cover-up. But pretty good fun if watched with a bit of tolerance.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: You can see what’s missing here in THE DREAMERS/’03, one of Bernardo Bertolucci's best late works. OR: The Lubitsch/Hecht highly-hetero take on Nöel Coward’s DESIGN FOR LIVING/’33. (Sex sequential rather than contiguous.) https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2009/03/dreamers-2003.html https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2010/01/design-for-living-1933.html
No comments:
Post a Comment