THOMAS IN LOVE A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2001 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): ***
THOMAS IN LOVE (THOMAS EST AMOUREUX) is rather like a reality TV version of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World," updated for a high bandwidth Internet future. Although it overstays its welcome a bit, it is an intriguing film about an agoraphobic, Thomas Thomas (Benoît Verhaert), who obtains sex and companionship only through his computer. Although he gets both, neither provides a very satisfying substitute for real flesh-and-blood encounters. Thomas hasn't left his apartment in eight years and hasn't let anyone in either. We see only what he sees on his monitor, and it's not clear whether we'll ever see him.
The film, set in some indefinite time in the future, manages to find insightful things to say about everything from the importance of relationships to the need for real sex to the scary consequences of a nanny state. It even skewers insurance companies by pointing out that too much care can sometimes be a bad thing. The film is funny, sad and frequently downright weird with the bizarre facial paint that people in the future wear. Of course, how would metal spikes through someone's nose, lip or eyebrow have been thought of by someone in the nineteenth century? Tastes change and not always for the better.
Although the movie starts as Thomas, in his cybersex suit, has sex in zero gravity with his long-time virtual companion Clara, the movie spends most of the time in conversation mode as Thomas tries to cope with his illness. Clara, a "sextoon," doesn't appear again until late in the picture when he plays her in a game of strip poker. She conveniently deals him four jacks.
Thomas gets everything he needs with his visiophone. Sometimes he is connected to a real person, and other times he reaches a canned video. His psychologist (Frédéric Topart) is authorized by his insurance agency to arrange for him to have a companion from a dating club called Catch-a-Heart. These "dates," however, are really nothing more than prostitutes. The film gives us a glimpse at how the women come to join such a service.
Much like watching "The Dating Game," we keep wondering whether Thomas will choose bachelorette number one, the tearful and mysteriously sad Eva (Aylin Yay), or bachelorette number two, the immature but exuberant Melodie (Magali Pinglaut). Another possibility is that he might go nuts and blow his brains out before ever coming to a final decision. He might even do something more frightening still. He just might leave his apartment. This much is certain, there's incredible profit to be made if some entrepreneur could just come up with the right product tie-in for the movie.
THOMAS IN LOVE runs a little long at 1:37. The film is in French with English subtitles. It is not rated but would be an R for animated sex, language and mature themes and would be acceptable for older teenagers.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, August 3, 2001. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the Camera Cinemas.
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