The summer movie season has come to an end, with big-budget blockbusters giving way to more prestigious Oscar-baiting dramas. Given the vague title, classical soundtrack, and superb lead actresses, you'd be forgiven for thinking that "Adore" is one of the first in this wave of deep, character-focused films. But don't be fooled. It trades smoldering explosions for smoldering stares, but in reality it's as fluffy as any superhero movie you may have seen this summer, and just as unrealistic.
Naomi Watts and Robin Wright undeniably give it their all as Lil and Roz, two childhood best friends and mothers who find themselves intwined in an absurd love affair with each other's bronzed surfer sons. Both actresses are at the top of their game, imbuing their roles with a passion and desperation only possible from gorgeous women trying their hardest to deny the inevitable passage of time. But an extremely unusual situation that seems ripe for dramatic shouting matches and Shakespearean levels of betrayal oddly reaches a comfortable level of stasis not even halfway through the film. What starts as forbidden lust soon devolves into what feels like an episode of "Very Modern Family".
This frothy film is based on a short novel by Doris Lessing, which was originally entitled "The Grandmothers". That title was clearly too stodgy, so it was quickly changed to "Two Mothers". When even that didn't seem sexy enough, the film got the harlequin romance-worthy name "Adore". This choice is definitely appropriate, because watching this film feels like reading a trashy paperback novel, one that probably has a bare-chested man on the cover, hair blowing in the wind (or, in this case, two of them.) The plot is sudsy and surprisingly tame -- if you're going to make a film about two middle-aged women engaging in extremely inappropriate relationships with their best friend's sons, at least make it exciting.
"Adore" is stuffed with impossibly beautiful people who have impossibly chic jobs and live in impossibly picturesque locations while making impossibly bad decisions. It's hard to relate to them because they're so unapologetically bougie; it's hard to sympathize with them because they're so immature; it's hard to enjoy the movie because it's so boring. But what's most disappointing about "Adore" is all of the missed opportunities. There are occasionally glimpses of an infinitely more interesting story here, including lesbian undertones between Lil and Roz and the shades of incest that are unavoidable when having sex with someone you've known since they were in diapers. But these more dangerous and exciting issues are skirted or ignored altogether in favor of countless shots of people swimming or drinking wine. Watts and Wright deserve much better than this tawdry material.
If you're trying to catch the films that will be raking in the Oscars next March, skip this one. If, however, you need something light to tide you over until next year's adaptation of "Fifty Shades Of Grey", then this is the movie for you.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KWyEbmKHsY[/youtube]
