Enduring Love Starring: Daniel Craig and Samantha Morton Directed by: Roger Michell Rated: R
"You're mad."
"That's what they said about Jesus."
"Yea, that's also what they said about a lot of mad people."
Enduring Love, a psychological thriller, is the eeriest movie of the year. Based on the award winning book by Ian McEwan, this film explores what happens when random, catastrophic events bring together complete strangers and change their lives forever.
The film opens on a sunny afternoon in the English countryside, when the lunch of Joe (Daniel Craig) and girlfriend Claire (Samantha Morton) is interrupted. Joe intends to pop the question to Claire but before he is able to, a hot air balloon plummets from the sky. He and three others instinctively rush to save the young boy trapped within, but their attempt is in vain, and one of the men suffers a tragic, yet mysterious, death.
Feeling as though "God's love" has passed between them, Jed (Rhys Ifans, Hugh Grant's dirty roommate from Notting Hill) seeks out Joe after the tragedy. Joe agrees, at least initially, but when Jed begins to show up a little too often, Joe is taken aback.
With beautiful scenery intertwined with strategically timed scary music, Love holds the viewer's attention quite well, though scenes of Craig posing as a professor and postulating scientific theories border on ridiculous.
Though Craig gives a powerful performance, Ifans is by far the break-out star of the film. If there was an award for creepiest motherfucker this side of the English Channel, he wins it with flying colors.
