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Food Of Love

2002, Movie, NR, 112 mins

Food Of Love: Review

FOOD OF LOVE | MANJAR DE AMOR
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Internationally renowned concert pianist Richard Kennington (Paul Rhys) has probably never seen ALL ABOUT EVE (1950); if he had, he'd be warier of adoring young acolytes who insinuate themselves into the lives of the rich and famous. Richard first meets ambitious 18-year-old pianist Paul Porterfield (Kevin Bishop), who dreams of one day following in his idol's footsteps, while on tour in San Francisco. Paul has the honor of serving as Richard's page turner, the person who sits at the pianist's elbow during a recital and turns the pages of the sheet music. Richard is taken by the youth's good looks and perfect manners, but Paul's clinging mother, Pamela (Juliet Stevenson), is waiting in the wings, forcing Paul to take a rain check when Richard invites him for a late dinner. Richard gets a second chance at seduction that summer in Barcelona, when Paul, who's touring Europe with Pamela, drops in on him at his hotel. In the kind of scene usually reserved for gay porn, Richard offers to give the lad a backrub and the two are soon in bed together; on his way out the door, Paul declares his love for the 39-year-old musician. For the next week, Richard ignores the mountain of telegrams from his agent, Joseph Mansourian (Allan Corduner), and spends every afternoon with Paul, despite his suspicions that Paul may be more interested in what he is than whom. Pamela, meanwhile, still hasn't recovered from the news that her husband wants a divorce, and has begun to consider Richard as a romantic possibility — completely oblivious to the fact that he's already her teenage son's lover. Based on a novel by David Leavitt and directed by the Spanish filmmaker Ventura Pons, the film sounds like the stuff of lurid melodrama, but what makes it interesting as a character study is the fact that the story is told from Paul's perspective. Far from a scheming Eve Harrington, he's actually an insecure teenager who fears that his talent alone won't be enough to move him out of the page-turner's chair and onto the piano bench. And the exploitation, it turns out, is mutual. Aficionados of melodrama and "the food of love" — music — will no doubt enjoy every minute, but once the excellent Rhys and Corduner are off-screen, the film's overall staginess and the inconsistent work of the supporting cast become glaringly apparent. leave a comment --Ken Fox
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