Chloe – An E1 Films’ Release

http://www.sonyclassics.com/chloe/

DVD Release Date: July 13th, 2010

Rated 18A for coarse language, nudity, and sexual content

Running time: 96 minutes

 

Atom Egoyan (dir.)

 

Erin Cressida Wilson (screenplay)

Anne Fontaine (motion picture “Nathalie”)

 

Mychael Danna (music)

 

Julianne Moore as Catherine Stewart

Liam Neeson as David Stewart

Amanda Seyfried as Chloe

Max Thieriot as Michael Stewart

 

Our reviews below:

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Chloe DVD Review By John C.

** (out of 4)

When Catherine (Julianne Moore) suspects her husband, Michael (Liam Neeson) of cheating, she does what all women would do.  She hires a prostitute, Chloe (Amanda Seyfried) to try and seduce him.  When Chloe starts reporting back to Catherine with steamy stories of her husband’s carnal desires, Catherine’s sex life becomes dependent on these reports, leading up to the inevitable seduction by Chloe.

 

For a psychosexual erotic thriller, Chloe is often rather boring.  Despite some graphic sex scenes that operate only on pulpy shock value, the results are also pretty bland.  Admittedly there were times I was kept in suspense, as for about the first hour we don’t know who to trust or what’s actually going on, and it’s all mildly interesting.  But this is the kind of movie that will either be enhanced or lessened by the ending, and let me tell you that the home stretch of this thing – despite an interesting twist – is laughable and ridiculous.  The film loses all credibility at the precise moment when Chloe stares directly into the camera, in a clichéd shot right out of a cheap horror movie.

 

There’s a lot of confusion on-screen amongst the characters, but the decisions they make are just idiotic.  Movies don’t necessarily have to be believable, but when they involve human characters, need to at least be grounded in some sort of reality.  The performances are all interesting, but I honestly think the talent involved, (including director Atom Egoyan), can do better than the material.  There are certain shots that are just miscalculated and laughable, the first being the aforementioned moment when Seyfried stares directly down the camera lens, and the second a climactic moment that decides the fate of one of the characters.  After that, the final image is just preposterous and ludicrous.

 

For me, Chloe is a contrived, unbelievable, and sometimes laughable melodrama that operates only on shock value.  Because of this, it has actually tricked some audiences into thinking it’s a better movie than it ultimately is.  Despite the performances, and some nice cinematography of Toronto, in the end Chloe just ends up a slushy Canadian mess.

 

The DVD includes commentary with Amanda Seyfried, director Atom Egoyan and writer Erin Cressida Wilson, as well as a making-of featurette, and several deleted scenes.

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Chloe DVD Review By Erin V.

*3/4 (out of 4)

In Chloe, Amanda Seifried plays the title character – a messed up, creepy call girl who is hired by Catherine (Julianne Moore) to see if her husband David (Liam Neeson) is cheating on her.  But Chloe likes Catherine instead, which leads to them ‘together’.  Catherine and David also have a 17-year-old son, who has girls staying over all night to nothing but a mild reprimand from his mother and not a word from his father.  How long you bet before Chloe becomes the family call girl?

 

It’s nice to see a film set in Toronto, but I would have hoped for a better one.  By the end it had just delved into the realm of ridiculous, with the plot twists (other than one) not interesting, unbelievable, and contrived.

 

It’s just kind of stupid.  It’s the kind of film that after watching it, you wonder why it had to be like that.  The suspense is kind strange at times, and shots such as Chloe lifting her head slowly to stare directly into the camera are just laughable.  The sexual content was also disgusting to listen to.  And a question should be, what kinds of portrayals of woman, is this?  Certainly not flattering.  It was a strange movie with not much going for it, and characters that seemed to have come out of a strange mind.

 

I wouldn’t recommend checking this one out unless you’re studying it for some sort of film assignment.  And even then, it better be to study how not to write a film – and in particular, write and film an ending for one.

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Chloe DVD Review By Nicole

** (out of 4)

Chloe is a slow-moving Canadian drama about lust and betrayal.  The story revolves around Catherine, a gynecologist in Toronto.  When Catherine notices her husband David, a professor, flirt with some of his students, she becomes concerned that he may be having an affair.  So Catherine hires Chloe, a local call girl, to act as a sort of double agent between Catherine and David.  But Chloe becomes fixated on Catherine, in a really disturbing way.  I won’t say what happens, but this film gives a new meaning to the term “family friend.”  While there is one interesting twist in the film, the ending is contrived and violent, in a really silly way.

 

For me, the only thing good about this film are both the acting, cast, Mychael Danna’s score, and the various shots of Toronto.  If you are interested in something different, check out Atom Egoyan’s Adoration instead.

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Chloe DVD Review By Maureen

** (out of 4)

Filmed in various familiar Toronto, Canada locations, Chloe is a real visual treat for those Torontonians who like to play spot the location.  As for the visual treat of Chloe (Amanda Syefried) and Catherine (Julianne Moore) in their nude scenes, that’s a matter of taste and it isn’t mine.  Described as a sexual and suspense filled thriller, Chloe delivers some degree of suspense but not much else.

 

I wanted to like this movie.  The actors involved are all excellent actors and Atom Egoyan a well-respected filmmaker.  His film, Adoration is brilliant.  The problem is, I just didn’t find the storyline believable.  When an intelligent gynecologist, Catherine suspects her husband David (Liam Neeson) is cheating she tries to catch him in the act by hiring a call girl, Chloe to seduce him.  Then when Chloe reports to Catherine that David is indeed unfaithful, Cathrine’s response is to become sexually involved with Chloe at Chloe’s urging.  I just can’t see any normal woman responding this way to the news of their husbands’s infidelity.

 

In terms of suspense levels, it’s obvious early on that Chloe is far more dangerous than she appears.  We didn’t need Chloe’s wide-eyed, evil stare into the camera after Catherine rejects her to confirm that Chloe will likely seek revenge.  There is an interesting twist in the plot line that somewhat redeems this movie.  As for the ending, it was a roll my eyes moment for me and the final shot of Cathrine’s hair is just plain creepy.

 

Curious viewers who want to see what all the hype is about may want to rent it.

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Chloe DVD Review By Tony

**1/2 (out of 4)

When her husband David Stewart (Liam Neeson) fails to come back from New York to Toronto in time for his surprise birthday party, his wife Catherine (Julianne Moore) suspects he was with another woman.  As a professor of music history, David is very friendly with his students and enjoys keeping contact with them through social media. As a Yorkville gynæcologist, Catherine appears to be as concerned with her patients’ pleasure as with their health.  From her office window she has observed the call girl Chloe (Amanda Seyfried) plying her trade and she hires her to test her husband’s fidelity by trying to seduce him.  Chloe reports on a series of increasingly intimate encounters, seen in brief narrated clips.  Chloe also meets their son Michael Stewart (Max Theriot).  Sensing Catherine’s obsession, Chloe manages to seduce her, leading to a downward spiral of plot twists and hairpin turns with a conclusion that doesn’t quite ring true.

 

As a director of great intellect, Atom Egoyan has to date always produced challenging films with recurring themes such as what is real and what is not.  Chloe is the first film that he did not write himself, which may be why it is flawed.  As expected, it is technically strong, with a fine cast, scenes that really show off the beauty of Toronto, and as always an evocative score by Mychael Danna.  Plot tension is well maintained up to the final scenes, but as stated above the ending doesn’t make much sense, leaving us frustrated for what could have been.

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Consensus: Despite some interesting performances, and nice cinematography of Toronto, Chloe delves into melodrama at its climax, ultimately making this an unbelievable and preposterous film.  The talent involved, including director Atom Egoyan, can do better than this. ** (Out of 4)