A Single Man | rated R (A) | starring Colin Firth, Julianne Moore | 1:39 mins
A Single Man is a small character study starring Colin Firth as an English professor suffering from depression after a car accident takes the life of his long-time gay lover. From the moment he wakes up in the morning we are in his head. Firth, deeply in character here, commands every inch of the movie with both a fascinating character and a fascinating narration.
With such a narrowcast story the focus is exactly where it should be: the writing. Single has a very honest and intelligent screenplay. Firth as George’s musings on everyday idiocyncracies keep things interesting. The story doesn’t amount to much. Just the every day life of this man. Yet with his suicide attempts (a montage that is oddly, sadly funny) and his homosexuality threatening to be uncovered in the 1960s it creates a slowly simmering amount of intrigue. All that is taken to a whole new level when a student appears on the scene with an interest in him. Julianne Moore is mostly a distraction, as bringing any outside element into this world would be. She’s on the DVD cover to make the movie not look like it’s about a gay man.
A Single Man is a movie distinctly for adults. The title could just as well be a double entendre for what the movie is focused on. It is leisurely paced drama about that plumes the mental depths of a character not driven by story but by his wandering thoughts. You feel effectively submerged in it, a welcome change from the numerous period dramas I’ve seen recently that only replicate the superficial. It is a rock solid journey that ultimately doesn’t amount to much, but is intriguing along the way. Usually a character actor in thankless roles, Firth emerges as the Atlas here carrying the movie almost on his own in a role that displays his talents. It’s good work.