Damage (1992)
Starring Jeremy Irons, Juliette Binoche, Miranda Richardson, Rupert Graves, and Leslie Caron
Directed by Louis Malle
***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***
This is another one of those flicks that's been on my list to see for quite a while. One of those movies that looked much too risqué to even think about asking the parents to rent from Blockbuster as a teenager, but still looking like it had a sense of class and maturity that drew me in even as a young(er) film aficionado. In the end, Damage is a fine film, but one that takes an interminable amount of time to get where it wants to go.
Although Damage wants you to think it's much deeper than this, it's basically the story of a British politician who has a torrid affair with a younger woman behind his wife's back. The kicker is that the mistress is also his son's fiancé. That's all you need to know because that's all that there is here. Stretched out to two hours, the film fills its time with a bunch of talking between the guilt-stricken though sexually awakened Stephen (played quite well by Jeremy Irons) and the serious and emotionally damaged Anna (played unappealingly like a stone wall by Juliette Binoche). A little talking would've gone a long way here.
Still, there is a considerable amount to like here and it revolves around Irons in particular. His character's relationship with both his son Martyn (Rupert Graves) and his wife (Miranda Richardson) is an intriguing aspect of the film and, in the final act, makes the moments of boredom for the preceding 90 minutes almost worthwhile.
The RyMickey Rating: C+
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