Search
What's Hot
Day-by-Day Fall Schedule
Idol Winner Speaks!
Jim Parsons Comes Out
Game of Thrones Star's Sex Stare

Afterglow

1997, Movie, R, 113 mins

Afterglow: Review

AFTERGLOW
starstarstarstar
Julie Christie is glorious, and that's most of what you need to know about this slight, loosely structured and self-consciously ironic soap opera in which two couples -- one young and troubled, the other older but hardly wiser -- get themselves into a series of fine messes. Portentously named middle-aged contractor Lucky Mann (Nick Nolte) is married to the still-glamorous Phyllis (Christie), a former B-movie actress reduced to watching her old movies in a hypochondriacal funk. Rocked to its foundations by a bitter argument that drove their teen daughter to run away, their marriage is stuck in an arid and soul-destroying rut. Marianne (Lara Flynn Boyle) and Jeffrey (Jonny Lee Miller) are, to all appearances, the embodiment of a successful young couple, but under the facade they're miserable. She wants a baby, he doesn't; he's rising through the corporate ranks but drawn to thoughts of self-destruction. Marianne hires Lucky to design and build a nursery for the child she hopes to have; they're soon locked in a passionate embrace. Jeffrey and Phyllis, meanwhile, cross paths while searching for their errant spouses and commence a prolonged and steamy flirtation of their own. Rudolph's script takes its own sweet time getting nowhere in particular, and Boyle is a fidgety bundle of sadly affected Audrey Hepburn mannerisms. But she's the cast's only weak link: Nolte brings unforced sensuality to the role of Lucky, while the icily handsome Miller gives Jeffrey surprising depth and pathos. Christie's brilliantly nuanced performance is pure magic: When Phyllis sees that Lucky has wallpapered Marianne's nursery in the same design he chose for their missing daughter when she was a child, Christie conjures up a lifetime of heartbreak without appearing to do anything at all. And she looks marvelous. leave a comment --Maitland McDonagh
Are You Watching?
Afterglow
Loading ...
Advertisement

Our Partners

Advertisement

Related Websites

You might be also interested in the following websites:

Most Popular TV Shows

  1. American Idol
  2. NCIS
  3. Big Bang Theory
  4. Voice
  5. Person of Interest
more popular tv shows

Most Popular Celebrities

  1. Jessica Simpson
  2. Khloe Kardashian
  3. Kate Middleton
  4. Maria Menounos
  5. Kim Kardashian
more popular celebrities

Most Popular Movies

  1. Avengers
  2. Battleship
  3. The Dictator
  4. Dark Shadows
  5. What To Expect When You're Expecting
more popular movies

Top Videos

  1. Revenge
  2. Days of our Lives
  3. Young and the Restless
  4. The Bachelorette
  5. Modern Family
more top videos