Review: A Single Man

A Single Man
Dir. Tom Ford
Year: 2009
Aus Rating: M
Running Time: 101mins

The debut film from fashion designer Tom Ford is the cinematic equivalent of an actress with excessive plastic surgery. A Single Man may look perfect, but scratching the surface just a little and I found that the film’s style is the result of too much preening, polishing and enhancing. Ford’s film is an addict for prettiness and in the process resembles an excessively over-designed photo shoot rather than a film.

You can read the rest by clicking over to Trespass Mag and let me know what you think? Were the film's technical aspects a help or a hindrance?


I didn't get to mention it in the review - or, I did, but I had to cut it out due to word limits - but in the part about how overly designed the film is, I made a query regarding the production design. That house that Colin Firth's George lives in is gorgeous, yes, but was anybody else confused by the fact that this gay man in the 1960s lived with his boyfriend in a house made entirely out of glass? Architecturally it was stunning, but a man who so obviously tries to keep his sexuality a secret, I couldn't think of anything sillier than living in a house where anyone could see inside. That just struck me as... off. C (although Firth's performance could probably bump it up to a C+ if I'm feeling generous.)