Review of Forty Shades of Blue (2005) by V H — 07 Nov 2005

Alan James (Rip Torn) is a legendary music producer living the good life in Memphis. He shares his home with his pretty young Russian girlfriend, Laura, who he met on a business trip to Moscow, and their 3-year-old son. Alan openly cheats on Laura and Laura puts up with it. She also puts up with the fact that Alan is a heavy drinking loudmouthed demanding lout, though cheating aside, he's generally fairly nice to her when he's not totally ignoring her.

Alan is to be feted at some sort of an awards dinner and his grown son Michael flies in for the occasion, leaving his pregnant wife home alone. Michael and Alan don't have a particularly close relationship. Michael claims that he respects Alan as a man despite the fact that he's always been a lousy father.

Michael has never met Laura before and is initially rather cold to her. Soon, though, Michael and Laura are drawn together by virtue of the fact that they both have to put up with Alan, whose mega-personality tends to dwarf each of their own. Though there's a definite attraction between them, Laura wisely rebuffs Michael's first move. Although she's clearly not happy with Alan, she claims that her life is better than the life of anyone she's ever known. She doesn't need perfection; Americans are too spoiled.

Well you know it won't be long before lust trumps common sense. Soon Laura and Michael are checking into a hotel together and we've got the makings of a full-fledged filial love triangle. You've got to wonder, just what are these people thinking? Michael, Michael, Michael... Laura is your FATHER'S GIRLFRIEND. She's your HALF-BROTHER'S MOTHER. No matter how hot she is, don't you think sleeping with her is just a little bit creepy??? Eeeww??? Don't you think???

I guess not.

As if things aren't complicated enough already, then Michael's pregnant wife decides to fly in for some big shindig Alan is throwing. So now we've got two love triangles glued together at the base to form a messy love rhombus. And those are never good. But there you have it.

I really liked the character of Laura, a stoic woman of few words (perhaps because English is her second language) who seems to have convinced herself that she can endure her lonely life as Alan's occasional plaything without doing any real harm to her psyche. Rip Torn is also good as the blustery Alan, but even though he may have top billing, the film really revolves around Laura.

This is one of those movies that starts a lot stronger than it finishes. The home stretch includes a couple of scenes that left me scratching my head in puzzlement and the ending is less than satisfying. But still. I didn't love it but I liked it. I would've given it a 6.5 if fractions weren't eschewed in tomatoville.