Review of The Two Faces of January (2014) by Greg T — 28 May 2014

"The Two Faces of January" has lofty pretentions. Aesthetically old-fashioned, like a dour forties thriller, it occasionally ramps up a gear and aims for Hitchcock and even, daringly, "The Third Man".

Unfortunately, it falters under the weight of its peerless influences and thanks mainly to its unmined characters manages, at best, to entertain and occasionally intrigue. The MacFarlands (Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst) are Americans abroad in 1960s Greece, splashing the cash and living a carefree life of leisure.

Rydal (Oscar Isaac - sleazy) is also an American abroad, fleeing from his family past, offering his services as a tour guide and ripping off rich American tourists. After the MacFarlands' previous crimes catch up with them in a five star hotel room, leaving a corpse in the bathroom and their passports in the safe, the mismatched group go on the run to rocky, desolate Crete where they can lie low until Rydal's contacts get them the papers they need to flee the country.

Inevitably jealous, paranoia and anger take hold with a backdrop of ancient crumbling splendour, but though passions are seemingly high there's precious little insight into the characters and what has driven them.

Dunst is particularly ill-served in a thankless role, though Mortensen is magnetic as a suave and sweaty Bernie Madoff whose instinct for self-preservation catalyses and pushes forward the plot. "The Two Faces of January" looks and sounds gorgeous - Crete is beautifully barren, its collapsed wonders as old as the plot itself, but it never soars or thrills as you hope it will.

A respectable, enjoyable film nevertheless.