Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Sharkflei Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

Justina The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

anastamichas This movie seemed promising but was seriously a waste of time. Not to mention the awful historical research.

bensonmum2 A wealthy American couple, Chester MacFarland (Viggo Mortensen) and his much younger wife Colette (Kirsten Dunst), are enjoying the sights of Greece when, by chance, they meet Rydal (Oscar Issac). Rydal is also an American. He speaks perfect Greek and works as a guide, scamming tourists a few dollars at a time. Rydal is immediately drawn to Chester's money and Colette's beauty. But the MacFarland's aren't what they seem. They have secrets to keep much darker than stealing from unsuspecting tourists. It took me awhile to get through The Two Faces of January. I was interrupted several times by family issues. Each time, my wife asked, "How's the movie?" - my response, "I don't know." But I knew I couldn't wait to get back to it. The Two Face of January is slow- burn, old-style film making. You really have to take in the whole thing before you can make a decision. The movie is set in 1962 and it could have easily been filmed in 1962. It's all about plot and story and not special effects and other film making trickery used (actually overused) today. Many of the other IMDb comments compare the movie to a Hitchcock thriller. And while I agree, I compare it more to a film noir of the 50s. You know, one of those stories where a woman is the cause of a man's downfall and, in the end, everyone is damaged and no one comes out looking good. That pretty well describes what happens here.While I really do love this movie for the reasons I've written about, it's not without fault. First, the acting is inconsistent. Mortensen and Issac are fantastic, but Dunst is just good. She's nowhere near the caliber of her two co-stars. Second, there are a couple of places where the movie drags. It's never a deal-breaker for me, but I do think some scenes could have been better paced.Finally, I want to mention the locations. Stunning is the best way to describe them. Greece, Crete, Turkey - all film exquisitely. I think my favorite might have been Crete. The remote landscape perfectly matched the isolation felt by the characters.

carbuff If it weren't so well filmed on location in Greece and a couple other photogenic European locales, I would probably only be rating this film around a 5. I was expecting a thriller, but instead it's more along the lines of a series of unfortunate events, although the story does keep moving in an unpredictable direction. The trailer to this film, however, is totally misleading and sells it as something much more like "The Talented Mr. Ripley", which was a very sophisticated and skillfully plotted thriller and also totally different from this movie. I'm guessing that a lot of people will find this film to be on the slow side, but that appealed to me personally, at least on the night I happened to watch it. In any event, I thought that it was worth the time for the scenery alone.

quincytheodore Almost resembling a documentary show of stranded tourists from Nat Geo channel, The Two Faces of January has a deceptively quaint atmosphere for a thriller. Characters are manipulative, morally ambiguous and have pathology tendency for deceit. However, it's irritatingly slow on creating tension and the script is rather thin even for the average runtime of the movie. The flamboyant visual is just barely enough to keep interest till the end.Chester (Viggo Mortensen) and Collette (Kirsten Dunst) are a couple who harbor some secrets. They take a vacation at Athens, but are eventually caught in an unfortunate incident and find themselves in a dire situation. Accepting the help of local con artist, Rydal (Oscar Isaac) they attempt to flee Greece. The movie has the acting department covered, a good trait since it's almost exclusively featuring these three characters as they clash personalities.It soon becomes clear that the seemingly happy couple are far from honest, even with each other. Situation escalates as Chester and Rydal collide, more than a couple of times. Using subtle cues it produces a sense of insecurity as the characters are trapped in unknown places, with slightly untrustworthy company, no less.The pace as it starts and ends are good, but it falters about halfway. Trivial banters keep the momentum from reaching its peak, furthermore the film uses too much of jealousy and dissatisfied couple tricks. It may build the characters, but the film roams into telenovela realm at some points, not the direction mystery thriller would optimize upon.Cinematography fares better, with the heavy European vista it's certainly has a different outlook. The retro vibe also helps, there's a distinct feel of classic detective nuance at play here. The mysteries, and also the latter act for that matter, are not highly captivating. The film serves as a crime drama in healthy does, but is not ambitious enough for complex con.Though it has charming cast and foreign allure, the slow pace might deter audience from taking part in this exotic trip.