A SINGLE MAN

Director: Tom Ford
Stars: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Goode, Jon Kortajarena
Year: 2009
Rating: R

Fashion designer Tom Ford's directorial debut is a true tour de force featuring maybe the best, certainly most sensitive performance of Colin Firth's career. Set in 1962, here Firth plays Los Angeles-based English professor named George, a middle-aged gay man (and transplanted Brit) still painfully suffering from the fairly recent death of his long-term love, Jim (Matthew Goode), who was in a car accident while visiting family in Colorado.

The film opens with George beginning a typical day; showering and dressing and grooming himself for work, George lives in a beautiful home full of windows, an architect's dream that he and Jim shared together. As he starts his day, we're treated to flashbacks that still haunt George to this day; memories of Jim, the phone call from one of Jim's cousins informing him of the accident (and subsequent denial of his attending Jim's funeral) - even memories of George and his best friend Charley (Julianne Moore), both good and bad ... including the night he showed up at her place, devastated over Jim's loss.

We watch George get ready, and soon begin to realize that George also plans to kill himself that day, as he readies himself for that, as well. He is not moody, morose, or angry; George simply IS. And that's the problem, now that Jim is gone - George simply IS. He's alive, but not living. The memories, the loss, the pain; it's all just too much to bear, especially when there is an alternative, and the rest of the film is about what looks to be George's final day on earth. He visits his safety deposit box on the way to work, sets up letters and money for Charley and his housekeeper, and even plans his last evening with dinner at Charley's house that night ... his last.

And yet, A Single Man is not a depressing film - even with the ultra-serious story. And that's in large part due to Colin Firth's amazing, Oscar-deserving performance. Breathing real life and genuine melancholy into George, Firth still makes him highly intriguing, and never the victim. George has simply chosen a way out of his pain, and while you care and feel deeply for him, you never pity the guy - and can wholly identify with what he plans to do, wondering yourself how you might handle the loss of someone who was your whole world.

Even meeting an incredibly hot guy - and potential trick - named Carlos (smoldering Spanish model/actor Jon Kortajarena) at the liquor store can't deter George, who turns down the much-younger Latino's advances ... though one of George's college students, Kenny (Nicholas Hoult), is more intriguing. Kenny not only seems to be crushing on George, he also seems to be the only one who notices that George is very different today - sad, even. And he wants to help.

A Single Man is brilliantly filmed; it's hard to believe this is Tom Ford's directorial debut, let alone that the designer also penned the script (based on Christopher Isherwood's novel). The story is told unsparingly, with minimal effects and maximum emotional impact. Firth is brilliant, Matthew Goode the perfect boyfriend in flashback scenes, and Julianne Moore is truly engaging as George's best female buddy - and the woman who has been in love with him all her life. Nicholas Hoult, it should be mentioned here, turns in a subtle breakthrough performance in the film as Kenny - and Tom Ford must have been completely smitten with the young British actor, because he took every advantage to show Hoult in such romanticized shots and lighting, this reviewer defies anyone not to be totally in love with Kenny yourself by the film's end.

This review, obviously, will not reveal how the film ends - but suffice to say, for the performances (especially Firth's nuanced portrait of George) and atmosphere and emotional impact of the story alone, A Single Man is a touching and unforgettable film. Not to be missed. ****1/2 - Reel Awesome-Reel Must-See