Review of Adoration (2013) by E Shirley B — 10 Sep 2013

In "Adore," the bond between best friends Lil(Naomi Watts) and Roz(Robin Wright) is even stronger after the death of Lil's husband in a car accident. While Lil rejects the advances of Saul(Gary Sweet), Roz's husband Harold(Ben Mendelsohn) gets a prestigious teaching job in Sydney, giving her two weeks to make a decision. In the meantime, Lil's son Ian(Xavier Samuel) has sex with Roz which Roz's son Tom(James Frecheville), and also Ian's close friend, discovers when Lil does the walk of shame without her pants on from Ian's room. So, Tom decides it is the time to visit Lil...

To be fair, "Adore" has to be the most sensitive movie one could possibly make about the provocative topic of a quasi-incestuous relationship, as depicted here.(Not only does Tom comment late about Lil being a second mother but Lil and Roz are both blonde, blue-eyed and athletic, and probably end up being mistaken for sisters a lot.) Much of that has to do with the movie's overall artistic bearing and specifically the excellent segues that show the passage of time while time seems to be standing still on this particularly beautiful piece of earth where there is a lot of alcohol consumed and which admittedly I would also have a problem with leaving. But is that all these characters could ever want, for nothing to change or to happen?