‘A Single Man’ Is A Visually Ravishing & Emotionally Rich Debut From A Director Beyond His Years

It was sort of a given that Tom Ford, the visionary fashion designer who used to work for Gucci and now has his own worldwide brand, would give us a movie that was so visually ravishing. The surprise with “A Single Man” (based on the 1964 Christopher Isherwood novel of the same name) is the emotional richness it displays as well.

In “A Single Man,” Colin Firth plays George Falconer, a British college professor teaching literature in Los Angeles. The year is 1962, a time where there wasn’t even a closet for a gay man to be in and right in the middle of the Cuban Missile Crisis. But George is dealing with a crisis of his own, having recently lost his lover of 16 years (played in arty flashbacks, by Ozymandias himself, Matthew Goode) in an auto accident. George is lost, depressed, and comforted only by his boozy ex-pat friend Charley (Julianne Moore). There are also playful advances from a handsome student, Kenny (Nicholas Hoult, aka the little kid from “About a Boy”).

At the beginning of the movie, we see George preparing a small handgun, ready for his own suicide. If there’s any real motor to the movie it’s what he’s going to accomplish or finalize before he kills himself and if he will come to peace with his former love (and potential new relationship). The movie is somewhat shapeless, etched by vignette-like excursions to the bank (where he sees a neighbor and the neighbor’s young son) and the liquor store (intercepted by a gigolo).

Everything in “A Single Man” is beautiful. George’s house, his clothes, the way Ford arranges the frame. For a lot of the film, the colors are washed out, symbolic of George’s hollowness. But when there’s a really revelatory moment, one that is meant to pack an even bolder emotional punch, Ford turns up the color, heightening everything, and the effect will leave you absolutely breathless. It’s a simple little trick, nothing fancy, but man does it leave its mark.

The movie is full of these small flourishes, which aren’t overtly showy but add so much to the atmosphere and detail of the movie. At one point George pulls up to a building and the entire side of the building is an old movie poster (we won’t say which one), an image that is altogether arresting.

The musical score, by Abel Korzeniowski and “In the Mood for Love’s” Shigeru Umbeyashi, is similarly beautiful. Anyone who was swept up with “In the Mood for Love’s” score will be similarly impressed by his work here. It’s just as delicate and mournful as George himself.

But as gorgeous as the movie looks (and sounds), it’s the lead performance that truly stands out. Colin Firth has been a solid actor in recent years, but he’s often been cast in bland and characterless movies where he’s forced to either fidget or charm (or both). As consistent as his performances are, he rarely makes an impact on a movie beyond doing his serviceable best. Here, he shines. If you aren’t in love with him by the end of the picture, then there’s something wrong with you. He conveys a man mourning a relationship (and a man) while also steadfastly holding onto desire. It may be the desire to end his life, or it may be the desire to reconnect and rejoin the living. But whatever it is, you can look at Firth’s face and see the hole that the relationship has left in him.

And some credit should be given to Matthew Goode in this regard. The movie renders their flashback sequences as tidy, almost square examples of domestic bliss. They talk. They read. They go to the beach. And in between the dialogue and glances you can conjure the life that they live together, that they’ve built. Goode might be a tad too young for the role (if the relationship lasted sixteen years, then George was cruising the middle school), but he really does bring it to life. You can see, in Goode’s performance, all that George is missing in the life without him.

Julianne Moore is great too, and has a spectacular sequence she shares with Firth, but her performance is the one in the movie that veers perilously close to camp. Thankfully, Nicholas Hoult is there, as the confused young student, to ground things.

“A Single Man” feels like the work of a veteran. It showcases a number of sure-handed stylistic notes that many directors struggle to master over a series of films. The fact that this is Tom Ford’s first outing in the director’s chair is nothing short of miraculous. And that the emotional content, one of aching loss, is just as powerful as anything that you actually SEE on screen is just as amazing. [A] – Drew Taylor