{"id":3373,"date":"2014-11-21T12:48:21","date_gmt":"2014-11-21T12:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/?p=3373"},"modified":"2014-11-21T12:48:21","modified_gmt":"2014-11-21T12:48:21","slug":"third-person","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/drama\/third-person\/","title":{"rendered":"Third Person **"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"third-person\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Paul Haggis (of Crash<\/em> fame) has gone for the \u2018romance\u2019 route this time in exploring relationship highs and lows. That\u2019s not to say he\u2019s gone all rom-com slushy, rather his interwoven tale, Third Person<\/em>, starts out to be three separate troubled affairs that eventually connect by the end credits.<\/p>\n

The story plays out in New York, Paris and Rome. Michael (Liam Neeson) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction author desperately trying to recapture his talent in a Parisian hotel room by completely his latest book, only to be interrupted by a visit from his mistress, Anna (Olivia Wilde), while escaping the fallout of a tragic event back home.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Scott (Adrien Brody) on business Rome comes across a beautiful gypsy woman Monika (Israeli stunner Moran Atias) at a bar who has no money to pay off traffickers who have her little daughter. In New York, Julia (Mila Kunis), an \u2018jobbing\u2019 actress is trying to make ends meet in dead-end jobs while yearning to get custody of her young son who is living with his father Rick (James Franco) after an incident of abuse.<\/p>\n

Third Person<\/em> is a credible tale of grief and hardship, but it doesn\u2019t endear us to any of the characters along their journeys. They all appear selfish, almost narcissistic in nature that empathising with any of them is a stretch \u2013 unless you are a parent, then it lazily taps into that engrained feeling of forlorn at being absent from your child.<\/p>\n

Actually, it\u2019s another Neeson meal ticket with a juicy \u2018leading\u2019 part for the action old-timer: He gets to intertwine with a younger woman. Indeed, Third Person feels like a middle-aged man\u2019s wet dream with the ideas of escapism to luxurious European surroundings while having an exciting (if unhinged) young woman obsessing after you. Neeson and the others all give commendable performances, though nothing that stands out. In not really connecting with any of the characters embroiled in their lot, the film drifts from one scenario to another, all watchable, before you get the clever \u2018twist\u2019.<\/p>\n

Indeed there is a moment in the film that \u2018doesn\u2019t feel quite right\u2019, where a prop is out of place and starts you thinking what the heck is going on? In this respect, Haggis is a master of tying up loose plotlines into a conclusion that makes you wonder at his skill. The rest of the time getting there feels altogether very samey as other such films. It\u2019s as though you are party to what\u2019s going on, thrown into each couple\u2019s situation but without all the details needed to truly become absorbed. This makes the status quo less enriching.<\/p>\n

Third Person<\/em> is another lesson in Haggis non-linear storytelling, something you can\u2019t fault the writer-director on. It\u2019s just a shame that the characters feel too detached to qualify for our sympathy. This is where the film fails down, as the twist is clever \u2013 though the more astute out there might twig in advance from the film\u2019s tagline, \u201cLife can change at the turn of a page\u201d. Perhaps that\u2019s too much of a clue and gives the game away before you embark on watching? In fact, the trailer summarises most of the couples’ issues anyway.<\/p>\n

2\/5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n

By @FilmGazer<\/p>\n

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