Movie Review - Chloe

Chloe (2010)

Starring Julianne Moore, Amanda Seyfried, and Liam Neeson

Directed by Atom Egoyan

Considering that Amanda Seyfried is being pushed as a new young film star, one would think that this flick in which the young lady bares close to everything would have gotten at least some moderate buzz when it was released earlier this year.  But, oh yeah, I guess the fact that the story pretty much blows negated any positives her nudity may have granted the film.

Julianne Moore is Dr. Catherine Stewart, an ob-gyn who worries that her music professor husband, David (Liam Neeson), may be cheating on her.  Catherine hires Chloe (Seyfried), an escort, in order to seduce David to see if her suspicions are true.  Catherine gets a little more than she bargains for, however, and the whole Stewart family (including the teenage son) are drawn under Chloe's sexy spell.

There's no denying that the film is going for "steamy," but it never goes beyond the Skinemax realm.  There's the soft lighting and the corny music and the cable channel nudity rule that only allows for lingering shots of breasts and ass and nothing else.  Chloe attempts to be salacious, but it oftentimes just comes off as laughable.  There's a slight Fatal Attraction vibe to it (albeit in a Sapphic manner), but you're better off just watching that 80s flick which, while also laughable, is at least a whole lot of fun.

It's a shame, too, because there's a really good performance here from Seyfried (and it's not just because she's naked).  Sure, her character is given a not-surprising-in-the-slightest "twist" at the end, but there's no denying Seyfried's seductiveness is effective.  It's a shame that her counterpart in Julianne Moore doesn't quite reach the same level.  Moore's role is nothing more than the cookie cutter "cheated-upon wife" that we've seen in movies tens of times before.

I've seen a couple movies by Atom Egoyan (one review is here) and I'm always intrigued by the premises, but I never quite feel like he's able to make his films come together in the end.  Chloe is no exception.

But Amanda Seyfried is stunning to look at...

The RyMickey Rating:  D