sol- Two brothers and their lovers become embroiled in mounting murder plots with a lucrative inheritance on the horizon in this comedy thriller full of twists and turns. To say much more might ruin a fresh experience, but suffice it to say, the film is a surefire testament to the dangers of placing too much trust in another human being. The characters live in a very sad world where they can never really trust one another. On the same account though, they are all so greedy and self-absorbed that it is hard to truly care for them; this is one of those awkward films where it is difficult to find a character to root for. The only ostensibly honorable person is a born again Christian detective played by Roy McKinnon, but the way he weaves spirituality into every conversation actually renders him least likable. Ellen DeGeneres also gets on the nerves as McKinnon's wisecracking partner, but she does admittedly have her amusing moments. By all accounts, this is quite a divisive film with not everyone appreciating what director Roland Joffé has opted for by blending neo-noir thriller elements with lighthearted humour. As one would expect from a Joffé film though, it is a well crafted piece of cinema. John Ottman's music score varies effectively between being enchanting and atmospheric and Dante Spinotti's frequently angular cinematography and mobile camera-work ensures that the film is visually arresting. The twists and turns also happen with enough frequency that the film rarely bores even if it is occasionally hard to care for the despicable characters at hand.

triple8 SPOILERS THROUGH:This movie was really really out there. There are more twists and turns in it then one can count and after awhile you sort of give up and decide to either: 1)turn the darn thing off or 2) sit back and enjoy the over the top ride! The second choice is the one I made and actually started enjoying this in a weird, you've gotta be kidding sort of way.The movie features an excellent cast and is filled with one dislikeable character after another. Seriously.... I'm not sure there was one likable person in the whole movie. Likewise, nobody cares about anybody and there are so many ulterior motives and double crossings going on this movie could put "Melrose Place" to shame. That's OK though after awhile, because as the movie goes on, you kind of get the idea things are not going to calm down, they are only going to get more twisty and more over the top. Once you know that though, you maybe can start predicting what some of those twists might be.I am not going to say this is a great movie but I will also admit I enjoyed this. It is a prime example of a "guily pleasure" type movie. Normally I would not give such a movie a 7 rating but hey I did just recently see the movie "Derailed"(to which I also gave a 7) and which is not unlike this in several ways although I actually think "Goodbye Lover" is a little more fun to watch overall. The movie never slows down in its twists, there's a bit of the comedic mixed in with the dark drama, the performances are for the most part good(Mary Louise Parker impressed me most) and the movie has so much happening that you have to pay attention and stay focused.Seriously-this is the type of movie where if you turn away for 2 minutes you might miss something. And for anyone who digs Film Noir this is like Film Noir gone over the top in a dizzying, what the heck kind of way.But it's a somewhat enjoyable movie though it's never going to win any Oscars. I guess I would call this movie "campy" only the performers don't play it that way. Arquette is almost the only one who seems to get into that area on occasion but mostly they play it pretty serious. Oh....the second exception is the obnoxious police officer. That brings me to the line "your under arrest" which he says at the end. I think the movie missed a chance for another twist. It would have been a better ending if they HAD been under arrest and that officer wound up as a really sharp guy having been suspicious of them all along. Instead he's about the only character who is what he appears to be. But as it stands, though this isn't a movie I'd say is great or even very good, it's not bad and a bit above average just for the watchable aspect and the cast. More twists and turns then a roller coaster and an over the top somewhat enjoyable movie. I'd say it's a low 7.

pinstripe Goodbye Lover is another run of the mill film about lust and betrayal. A man (Don Johnson) sleeps with his brother's wife (Patricia Arquette), and soon the brother (Dermot Mulroney) finds out about it. Soon enough, people are being murdered "accidentally" left right and centre. A detective (Ellen DeGeneres) finds herself enthralled in the case, and soon enough the whole movie falls apart after a could-be intriguing intro.The movie is intensely artificial and beaten to a pulp. Just when you think the movie might end, another lame plot twist is thrown at you, but it's always something which has been done before.I didn't despise this movie. The acting was decent, thought at times a bit corny and fraudulent. As for a fresh and innovative script, you'll have to search for somewhere else.

Inspector Lohmann "Goodbye Lover" is a quite good dark comedy about -- as Jake Dunmore says quoting his brother Ben -- "Image is everything." Everything in this movie is about image, and yet nothing is at it appears. And in this respect the very context of the movie sustains the content exceedingly well: it's a beautifully shot movie -- too pretty, in fact. So pretty it's easy to miss the fetidness just beneath the surface.Almost every shot is too shiny, too glossy, too seamless, too meticulously composed. Many scenes are suffused with those ubiquitous cinematic blues and oranges contemporary DPs and directors like so much, but raised to such a degree that it almost enters the realm of the fanciful. Many other scenes are done in hi-tech blacks, whites, and grays. Everything is window dressing -- reality is nothing more than appearance, beautifully symbolized by mirrors everywhere. Lots of mirrors, shiny surfaces, glass & windows, all reflecting everyone to everyone else, a world of appearances without substance, without soul. And when people aren't being reflected in mirrors they're being framed behind glass, a diorama for display. The world is just one big department store window.Yet just as a structurally crumbling, termite-ridden house can be painted to look pristine and beautiful, so does this shiny veneer hide the most vicious, rapacious, cynical behavior. Indeed, the world in which this takes place may look beautiful, but it is very very empty and ugly. And as such this is a kind of morality tale that shows the dangers to a society that lives strictly for appearance.There are few movies I can think of which so excellently explore this tense boundary between the shiny packaging, and the rancid stuff it hides. As Ben Dunmore says, "People worry that it's a dangerous and sh*tty world. And it is our job to make it look safe and clean." Thus our hero works at a PR firm, packaging a morally bankrupt politician as a wholesome, devout family man; the president of the PR firm pretends to be a holy man -- a rather inherent contradiction; our two principals work in a church that obviously serves Mammon over anything else: religion is just another accoutrement, something to accessorize the soul; and then there's the wedding chapel in Las Vegas, where an unctuous smile sells ersatz sincerity. [Sorry.] Etc. (In fact, it's surprising how many such examples of this there are in the movie -- the writers were very inventive and consistent in coming up with such a profusion of image vs substance motifs.)The only person in this world of appearances who doesn't belong, Detective Rollins, is a "F*cking Mook" -- as his partner, Sergeant Rita Pompano (Ellen Degeneres), calls him. For him, appearance *is* reality. His sincerity is regarded with mocking disbelief by everybody: he obviously doesn't understand the rules of the game that everyone else is playing. Even we, the audience, take sides against him -- that's how subtly subversive and well presented -- even seductive -- this world is.And speaking of Ellen Degeneres, she is great in this movie. Others complain that she isn't funny or witty, merely insulting. But in one of those delightful twists where the line between fiction and reality dissolves, this is her payback for the flack she took from the forces of christian oppression after she came out of the closet. Ellen obviously relishes this role -- she mercilessly mocks her Mormon partner, gets to be a "guy" (and, for an attractive woman, she is laudably unattractive in this role), and, at the end of the movie, looks ridiculous when she dresses in "drag".This may also be Don Johnson's best movie. For once he gets to play the kind of character he seems uniquely equipped to play: a high-end used car salesman, all style, all flash, sexy in his way, but empty and sleazy. It's very fitting that when he says he's "trying to get something real in his life", he unknowingly gets quite the opposite. And, since he wants to leave the game, he no longer belongs in this world -- and is appropriately removed from the game.Sometimes the symbolism is a bit heavy-handed ("Go For It" billboard), as is the writing ("You need to go down on your knees for her." "Well, someone obviously did."). But it's all in good spirits, and I'm willing to accept its blemishes (as it were) 'cause it succeeds admirably in most other respects. And the acting in general is uniformly solid -- in fact, it's very well cast, even the curiously unfatale femme fatale Patricia Arquette.The movie ends on a wonderfully humorous note to the tune of "Climb Every Mountain" as image thoroughly triumphs over substance, much as it does in real life -- which may be the reason this movie doesn't sit well with many people.The filmmakers obviously had fun making this movie, and it shows. All in all, it's a very well-made, fun movie -- if you scratch its surface. [8/10]