Afterglow (1997)
Director: Alan Rudolph Cast: Nick Nolte, Julie Christie, Lara Flynn Boyle, Jonny Lee Miller, Jay Underwood Screenplay: Alan Rudolph Producers: Robert Altman Runtime: 113 US Distribution: Sony Pictures Classics Rated R: sex, language
By Nathaniel R. Atcheson (nate@pyramid.net)
Afterglow is about a group of people who remain in tangled, destructive marriages, but the film doesn't quite explain why. The characters are all interesting and well-acted, and the film is moody and atmospheric; but, at the end, I didn't know where the characters were emotionally. This lack of closure doesn't help the fact that the characters commonly engage in situations that don't feel realistic, and say things that I wouldn't expect people to say.
The film centers around two marriages. One consists of Jeffrey and Marianne Byron (Jonny Lee Miller and Lara Flynn Boyle). He is a smart, cold, and cocky business man, while she is a quiet, needy housewife who just wants a baby. The other marriage has Lucky and Phyllis Mann (Nick Nolte and Julie Christie). Lucky is a plumber who sleeps with all of his clients; Phyllis is a depressed, alcoholic ex-actress who allows him to sleep around.
The story develops as it becomes clear that Jeffrey has no intention of supplying Marianne with a child. When Marianne hears about Lucky from a woman who has him fix her pipes frequently, she calls him up, and they begin an affair. Then, through a series of unlikely events, Jeffrey and Phyllis become attached, unknowing that their spouses are off doing the same thing.
The first problem I found is that the film relies far too much on improbable coincidences. What were the chances of Jeffrey and Phyllis going to the same bar to watch their spouses cheat, and then end up spending a weekend together based on one meeting? It doesn't even seem all that necessary to have this be an element of chance--one of the characters could have sought out the other, and the effect would have been the same. This kind of material feels almost giddy in nature, and the thought of the situation is goofy outside of the dark vision of writer/director Alan Rudolph.
In fact, the film is almost too dark. Some of this is downright depressing, and it never lets up--not even in the end. Jeffrey, for instance, is a character of little heart: he actually tells his wife, point blank, that he doesn't care one bit that she wants a baby, and yet, we are expected to believe that he loves her. The dynamics between the couples feel inexplicably strange, so strange that I can't tell if it's unrealistic, or just unusual. Lucky and Phyllis have an equally odd relationship, for I can't imagine any wife consenting to her husband's infidelity. Rudolph does attempt to explain her mentality on the issue, but I couldn't by it.
The acting partially makes up for all of these disturbingly unique character interactions. Christie nailed a Best Actress nomination for this performance, and she deserves it. Phyllis is a woman who constantly undergoes pure, emotional torture, and the often-subtle ways that Christie emits these feelings is truly effective. Nolte, whom I normally detest as an actor, is actually good here (he's toned down that macho image he always seems to be brandishing). Boyle is quiet and appealing, and takes her character through realistic developments. And Miller, who I still remember from Hackers, turns in another fine performance while managing a near-perfect American accent (although he pronounced "mountains" as "moontains").
In the end, the film left me feeling down, though I'm not sure this is what Rudolph intended. A subplot that involves the Mann's absent daughter is potent, but extremely saddening, and ends with an unsure conclusion. And what we're led to believe happens to the Byrons doesn't really feel good. I don't know if it's proper to hold these elements against Afterglow, because it's entirely possible that Rudolph intended the audience to feel this way at the end. And, if this is the case, I'm not sure why. I don't like leaving the theater wondering what I was supposed to get out of the film.
**1/2 out of **** (6/10, C+)
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Nathaniel R. Atcheson
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