Forty Shades of Blue

The most surprising thing about this movie is who it's about. As the biggest-name star, Rip Torn gets top billing as Alan, an aging and very successful Memphis music producer lauded as a living legend because he was part of the great cross-fertilization of black and white musical styles that occurred in the 50s and 60s; but the movie really belongs to Dina Korzun as Laura, his much younger Russian girlfriend.

The son of a cantankerous music star visits for a ceremony of awards then has an affair with the young wife of his father. The highlight of this film is the morose performance of Dina Korzun and often unsearchable; the few moments when she shows through her vulnerability-crying in bed after having sex with her husband as an example-are captivating.

I see a movie to be entertained, not to watch someone I don't care about screw up their life by making bad decisions and by alienating everyone in their lives, their family and friends. I love character driven movies, but give me characters that I care about and who are care-able about, not obnoxious, narcissistic people who I wouldn't want to be friends with in real life.

I really enjoyed this film and think it deserved the Sundance Award.I think its strength lies in telling a story about someone who is normally overlooked and considered uninteresting and unworthy of being the subject matter of a film.

Dina Korzun played an immigrant, abandoned with her son in the sordid wastelands of Merrie England, in Last Resort, and her character is in a way an extension of this part. In 40 Shades she is the trophy wife of a 'legendary' Memphis record producer, and her fragile, doll-like beauty is an extreme foil for Rip Torn's gross and menacing but superficial superstar.

Not the movie, but rather this review.Dorothy Kilgallin once famously wrote the shortest review on record of a Broadway play: "The House Beautiful" is the play lousy.

Film-making with such an eye for detail and nuance is rarely to be seen in America and I'm overjoyed that the Sundance committee stepped forward to recognize it. Forty Shades of Blue is a fascinated witness to heartbreak and refuses all melodrama, all sentimentality in favor of fully lived characters that are shocking in their naturalism---the Russian actress in particular is astonishing but what is even more astonishing is the subtlety with which the director observes her.

I saw 40 Shades and think this film is incredible. Ira Sachs has made a movie that is unlike the typical current American film but is all about America.

The overall effect is spellbinding. For fans of 1970's movies like FIVE EASY PIECES and the works of Cassevetes 40 SHADES OF BLUE will be deeply satisfying.