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A few Shades short
Ira Sachs' first feature was the gay drama The Delta. His second, Forty Shades of Blue shows he's not afraid to be typecast — as a Southern filmmaker. Forty Shades of Blue is a movie only a Sundance juror could love, which explains why it won the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at the 2005 festival. It's got the grungy look and sound of a low-budget independent — a deeper-pocketed distributor might have cleaned it up a little more — but the writing, direction and acting are also on the grungy side. Rip Torn stars as Alan James, a Memphis record producer (think Sam Phillips) who's legendary for being part of the "magical moment when the music of the blacks and the music of the whites came together." A few years ago he went to Russia and brought back a souvenir, Laura (Dina Korzun). He's since had a son with her but they haven't married (how she got a green card is one of the details that's ignored.) Alan is neglectful, often leaving Laura to fend for herself in his strange
culture. She has Their relationship seems to be built on the trust that they'll be there for each other at the end of the day, or at least the next morning. Things change with a visit from Michael (Darren Burrows), Alan's grown son from one of his marriages, whose pregnant wife has stayed behind in California because they're going through a rough patch. Alan introduces Michael to Laura and says, "Why don't you get to know her a little?" You don't have to be a genius to know where things go from there. Torn is good as Alan, who is so used to getting his way he doesn't realize what a bully he is. Korzun has a quality that seems more otherworldly than foreign. Burrows has an interesting look, like the young Harrison Ford with touches of Nicholson and Eastwood, but doesn't get to do anything interesting. Sachs steeps his film in atmosphere, in moments of what look like real people doing real (i.e., boring) things. Most of the dialogue sounds improvised (i.e., boring), even if it isn't. Some people like movies like this but I go to the movies to get away from ordinariness (I wasn't a big Cassavetes fan either.) Steve Warren is a local actor and film reviewer. His reviews can also be seen weekly in the Sunday Paper. |
Forty Shades of Blue
Directed by: Ira Sachs 
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