By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Isabella Rossellini | Jake Gyllenhaal | Mélanie Laurent | Sarah Gadon
Country: canada, spain
Year: 2014
Running time: 90
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2316411/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Diane says: “Alas, waste of time! Jake Gyllenhaal meets his doppelganger, but I didn’t find the two very different, despite one Jake wearing a tweed jacket and the other, leather. ENEMY opens with the tweedie already tired and depressed. Unfortunately, neither Jake’s acting nor the script conveys what’s at the root of his psychological crisis.
“Isabella Rosselini’s small role as Jake’s mother highlights how far short director Dennis Villeneuve falls in his Lynchian strivings. And this story of disassociation has been done so much better in FIGHT CLUB, MULHOLLAND DR., et al. The original story, by Jose Saramago, has no tarantulas at all. 2 cats”
Michael says: “While listening to the Brattle Podcast, the 2013 movie PRISONERS, directed by French Canadian Denis Villeneuve, starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal came up, and while i am intrigued, and plan on seeing it, I was diverted when I was looking it up by another 2013 film Villeneuve directed called ENEMY. This one also starred Jake Gyllenhaal, and seemed a bit weirder and smaller, so I elected to watch that first. And yes, it’s pretty weird. From the opening scenes, we are thrown into a disorienting, vaguely ritualistic gathering that involves sex, and maybe something kind of creepy crawly. After that, things settle down, and we meet Adam, a history professor at a Toronto University, who is in a bit of a rut. He has a beautiful girlfriend, and enjoys a healthy sex life, but every day, and even evening is pretty much the same. When he stumbles upon a extra in a movie he’s watching on video that looks just like him, he is intrigued. From there things spiral into an increasingly bizarre and disturbing web. Adam tracks down the actor, Anthony, and reaches out to meet. He speaks to Anthony’s wife on the phone and she is convinced that it is her husband. When the two finally do meet, things get even stranger, and we remember from time to time how the film began, and wonder how it all might fit together.
“The movie hinges on Gyllenhaal’s fine performance. Playing two characters, who are very different, isn’t that hard, but Jake does it in such a way that you could easily believe that one was the other. They’re different, but it’s just a shade of confidence that separates them. It was impressive how Anthony, the actor came across much more attractive than Adam the professor with just a slight change of posture, and perhaps the set of his jaw. Great support from the two women in these men’s lives, Mélanie Laurent and Sarah Gadon (so good in her own take on playing different aspects of the same person in BLACK BEAR), enhances the surreality of the proceedings. And who could complain about a great appearance by Isabella Rossellini as Adam’s mother. Villeneuve, working with a script by Jose Saramago, adapted from his own novel, touches the weirdness lightly, keeping the on-screen actions odd, but realistic. When he does toss in something to remind us of the bizarre nature of the goings on, it’s sometimes startling, and sometimes takes a moment to notice. Until the final scene, that is, which is shocking in more ways than one. I have enjoyed Villeneuve’s early independent work, the French Canadian films MAELSTROM and INCENDIES, and I am GREATLY looking forward to his big blockbuster DUNE, coming out later this year, but now I’m going to go back and watch his other Hollywood offerings to see what else I’ve missed. 4 cats”