Nocturnal Animals [Blu-ray]

Susan Morrow (Amy Adams) is a wealthy and successful art gallery owner. She lives in a beautiful, albeit soulless house, with her handsome but aloof (and philandering) husband (Armie Hammer). She attends lustrous dinner parties, hosted by equally jaded people. Here’s the thing: Susan is miserable — almost suicidal. At least that’s what she and her friend imply during a conversation. But things reach a head when the past revisits her in the form of a manuscript. Her ex-husband Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal) sends her a review copy of his novel, due for publication soon, and a note stating that she was the “inspiration” behind the story. This is clear to her from the book’s title — NOCTURNAL ANIMALS. Edward used to call her a “nocturnal animal” due to her insomnia. And then there’s the story itself, and the main character named Tom. Though it bears no resemblance to their life together, Susan notices bits and pieces of the things that led to their divorce, and how he’s felt about it. The woman who plays his wife in the book (Isla Fisher) has an eerie resemblance to her, and Tom’s lamentations have a lot to do with what transpired between Susan and Edward in real life. She never believed in him, thought she was above him, and then she cheated and left him for her current husband. In the course of the book, one of the sociopaths represents post-breakup Susan. I won’t go further to avoid spoilers, only to say that she thought the grass would be greener on the other side. Is it too late to reconnect and make amends?This is such a strange and unique thriller. The opening scene is so shocking — and so unconventional — that I almost stopped watching, but I’m glad I carried on. The strange opening scene is far from the only interesting thing in this film. This is a story within a story within a story, where you discover things through layers upon layers of storytelling from different points of view. We see the novel in action from Susan’s eye. Something sets this interwoven story apart from all the others — there’s no voiceover narrative. No one is telling you what’s happening. You just watch as if it were its own movie. This fascinated me. Edward’s novel is a noir-style southern thriller, and the book is bleak, shocking and twisty all the way to the end. In between scenes, we get snippets of Susan’s current life, from her estranged relationship with her daughter to the emptiness of her career life. We also get flashbacks of her life with Edward before and after they marry, and how their differences tear them apart. He’s a dreamer, she’s a realist. He knows he will be a successful novelist one day — and she doesn’t think he will go far. In this tragic love story, we realize that there must be a balance with realists and dreamers. You can’t be a “realist” to the point of becoming cynical and disillusioned. That’s how people quit their life goals and never feel fulfilled. On the other hand, you shouldn’t dream your life away. Dreams should come with action plans, realistic time frames, and attainable goals. You must also not listen to naysayers, because they will try to turn you into a skeptic like them. I’m a dreamer, but I make sure my dreams don’t stay dreams for too long. This movie resonates so much.Trigger warning: some scenes are really hard to watch. It’s kind of witnessing a nightmare while awake. There’s lots of tension and shocking scenes. If you’re highly sensitive to apathy, cruelty and taunting, then I’d watch this carefully.Now to the upsides and downsides. The cinematography is beautiful. You’ll never be confused with the different time frames and story shifts. As I said earlier, there’s no voiceover narrative in this movie, so the film fully relies on showing instead of telling. Amy Adams’s despondency is so powerful it jumps out at you. Jake Gyllenhaal’s heartbreak and disappointment shows through Edward’s novel. Downsides? Susan’s age. Twenty years had passed since her last contact with Edward, and they started seeing each other while she was in graduate school, which means Susan is now in her mid to late forties. Adams was about thirty-nine or forty when she filmed this, and she looks younger than her age, so they put a lot of heavy makeup on her to make her appear older, while giving her a natural, fresh-faced look in the flashbacks. No woman in her mid to late forties would ever wear blood-red lipstick and dark eye makeup. Why? Because heavy makeup ages you — duh! People that age are more likely to use “Young Susan’s” fresh-faced look, especially if you look young enough to pull it off. I get the symbolism behind Susan’s appearance, but I couldn’t get past this little attention to detail. My other complaint is how there isn’t enough Isla Fisher in the movie. She’s such a beautiful and talented actress. She’s also often confused with Amy Adams (and vice versa), which explains why they picked her for the part. Would have loved to see more of her.That’s all I could think of. This is such a beautiful film! I love movies about books, with stories within stories, as my novels have this format. Another movie I love that’s like this is THE WORDS with Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana and Dennis Quaid. Another good story-within-a-story movie is THE GIRL IN THE BOOK with Emily VanCamp. NOCTURNAL ANIMALS is in a league of its own though. Excellent acting and directing! Tom Ford is miles ahead of most filmmakers. (Yes, Tom Ford, as in the elite fashion designer!) Five Caffè Americanos, with extra Crema!

Watched this on a whim. Great modern film noir featuring a story within a story. The performances are brilliant across the board, as you would expect (just look at the cast) and the stories themselves are really captivating. Violent, hard to watch, heartbreaking, just a great ride. Highly recommended if you're in the mood for a psychological roller coaster.

Let's get started with the opening scene. It's one of the most unusual and bizarre openings to any film I ever seen. It's actually confusing and shocking. To make it even more confusing, the opening really has little connection to the film, but it will give you an idea this is not going to be your usual film. The opening is so unexpected that it is best to kept it as a surprise. You won't believe your eyes.Susan (Amy Adams) is living her dream as a wealthy gallery owner with a luxurious home and a handsome husband. Her perfect life is shattered when a mesmerizing novel from her ex-husband Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal) appears at her door. They've had no contact in 20 years after she thinks he will never be the success she expects of her husband. As Susan reads the novel, we are transported to the world Edward has created. Gyllenhaal now appears as Tony in the novel faced with an unthinkable horror.NOCTURNAL ANIMALS is a movie of three stories. It's the miserable life of Susan and her philandering husband Hutton (Armie Hammer) along with the backstory of Susan and Edward's love story set 20 years ago in flashback. The meat of this film and the truly fascinating part of the film is the recreation of the novel as Susan reads it. We are taken into the world of the novel. It's easy to follow the three stories because of the use of lighting, location and setting.The part of the film based on the novel is really the gem of this film. I would have rather this part be the entire movie and we could have skipped the Susan/Tony and Susan/Hutton stories. But, writer/director Tom Ford has crafted a film that requires us to follow Susan in the present and in the past. Edward's novel is haunting (and the viewer will be thinking about it long after the film ends). Look for easy to miss but obvious clues and the symbolism in the novel to understand why Edward sent it to Susan.Gyllenhaal as Tony and Michael Shannon as Bobby, the determined to find justice law officer are really stand outs in this film and the interaction between Tony and Bobby are what will enthrall and fascinate the viewer.Be prepared for the unexpected and to be haunted by the novel's story within the film and its tragic violence. I watched the bonus features which better helped explain the film and what director/writer Tom Ford envisioned. It's a beautifully-photographed film that will keep you thinking and wondering for days.