High Art

I have trouble with weak endings. This one gives the impression that the ending to the story was never decided on, that the telling of the story was more important than wrapping up the salient ideas. Which is silly. Sure, I'll take away how the story was told (lazily, smokily, sensually) but I'm not going to remember it later on because there isn't a story arc to hang it on. A photography magazine editor, newly minted, desires a reclusive photographer to be profiled in the magazine. Other desires soon become evident. It was interesting to see Ally Sheedy outside of the context of Breakfast Club, but the mannerisms of the high-schooler of that film and the photographer of this film are surprisingly similar. I suppose this proves that she's a perfect character actor. I rented the film because I was interested in seeing Radha Mitchell in earlier roles, as I was impressed with her take on Mrs. Barrie in Finding Neverland. She does wonderful things with facial expressions to portray her conflicting emotions as an editor needing to prove herself, a bored girlfriend, and the moth drawn to the flame of the older, more experienced photographer. Although the flavor of the film is worth a look, as mentioned the story implodes at the end, leaving the viewer wondering what the film was really about.

year: 1998
length: 101 min.
rating: 2.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0139362/combined