Intimate Strangers Review
A quirky and not wholly satisfying film, Intimate Strangers nonetheless deserves praise for its probing of issues relating to intimacy and sexuality that many filmmakers (and viewers) find too uncomfortable to dwell upon at considerable length. There are also few movies that manage to create and sustain such excruciating sexual tension without actually showing anything that would jeopardize a PG rating, let alone showing any actual sex (despite this film's 'R' classification). It's a claustrophobic work in some ways, with a great deal of the action -- if one could call it that -- taking place in lawyer Fabrice Luchini's uninvitingly functional office and the drab corridors of the building where he works. It's a talky film, too, dominated by the wary conversations between Luchini and the mysterious Sandrine_Bonnaire. He's too inhibited to be forthcoming about his increasing infatuation with her; she's not quite forthcoming either about her past or why she feels compelled to return for quasi-analysis. It all makes for some good psychological intrigue, but it's never quite satisfactorily explicated what Bonnaire is running away from, and the introduction of her estranged and equally troubled husband into the mix strikes a note of incongruous threat and violence that doesn't quite fit in well with the main thrust of the story. Fortunately the edgy give-and-take between the two main characters is usually the focus, and while Luchini's performance isn't flawless, it's certainly memorably peculiar, bearing the countenance of a man perpetually befuddled by life in general and women in particular. Richie Unterberger, Rovi
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