Conversations with Other Women (2006)
Starring Helena Bonham Carter, Aaron Eckhart, Yury Tsykun, Brian Geraghty, Brianna Brown, Nora Zehetner, Olivia Wilde, Thomas Lennon
IHBM8.75Excellent
Reunited at a wedding after many years, former lovers again feel the pull of a mutual attraction neither is willing to admit. Escaping the reception for the privacy of a hotel room, the unnamed pair explore the choices of the past that led them to the present.
My review · Reviewed 05/06/2022
The premise seems simple enough: two former lovers meet at a wedding years after their relationship ended. During the first part of the movie Bonham Carter absolutely shines. I mean that she is absolutely magnetic as a headstrong woman entering her late 30s. As the movie progresses the dynamic changes the nature of the characters also change. Bonham Carter becomes a bit more accessible and Eckhart has a chance to pick up the ball.
I think what really makes this movie unique is that the movie can be watched on a couple of different levels. You can watch it as a simple "lets figure out why they broke up" movie (although this was done much better in Blue Jay) but for those that want to look a bit deeper there is a lot there. The movie deploys a couple of devices to tell the story. One such device is having the characters say a line two and three times - this is meant to show how they wished the line came out. Another is a bit of a split screen - this device becomes important in the (fantastic) final scene. I loved it.