Canadian Atom Egoyan’s latest, the Toronto set “Chloe,” unsurprisingly generated a smattering of applause and roughly two-thirds of a standing ovation.
The remaining third must be determined cinephiles or born-and-bred Yankees like myself, who recognize “Chloe” as one of the worst films at this festival. Tonally, it resembles an arthouse adaptation of a trashy dime novel romance, starring Julianne Moore as an unhappy and paranoid housewife whose once vibrant marriage has considerably chilled. After her latest bout of mistrust causes her to hire the titular escort (Amanda Seyfried) to attempt to seduce her supposedly philandering hunk of a husband (Liam Neeson), things escalate quickly with unexpected and damaging familial consequences. Reminiscent of Richard Eyre’s arthouse wannabe “The Other Man,” which premiered in Toronto last year, “Chloe” uses its directorial restraint to engage us at first, but delivers nothing. The final third completely devolves into the typical stalker-thriller territory of the many “Basic Instinct” knock-offs, conveniently utilizing the psychotic character as catalyst for the events that take place.
And while Julianne Moore is quite good in her role, and Amanda Seyfried is effectively sexy (Liam Neeson is so inconsequential it’s hardly worth mentioning), the most arresting scene for many will be a lesbian make-out which will, somewhat understandably, be enough for some. Not for us though. [D+] –Luke Goraham