after a stylistic detour with mrs .
parker and the vicious circle ( which , despite its uncomfortable tone , was close to being a conventional movie )
, director alan rudolph has returned to his unique brand of film making with afterglow , a romantic black comedy about love , betrayal , and self - absorption .
while these may not be the most unusual themes to fashion into a motion picture , rudolph 's atypical approach to the characters and their situations makes for an intriguing , if not always pleasant , movie .
it is said that rudolph is a polarizing director ?
meaning that most viewers either love his work or hate it .
until mrs .
parker , i had not been overly impressed by his movies .
i found equinox , his last pre- mrs .
parker effort , to be irritating and frustrating .
i was somewhat surprised , therefore , to discover that i liked afterglow .
there are several reasons for this , but the paramount one is that rudolph seems to have muted some of the most strident , mannered aspects of his approach .
the characters here are more like real people with genuine problems ,
the story is absorbing , and the acting is top - notch . in short , rudolph has created a world that it 's worth spending two hours in .
afterglow introduces us to two unhappily married couples .
jeffrey byron ( jonny lee miller ) is a cold , seemingly - heartless businessman who is sexually indifferent to his young wife , marianne ( lara flynn boyle ) .
for her part , marianne is so obsessed with having a baby that she never attempts to interact with her husband on a human level .
all she 's interested in is seducing him during those few days when she 's ovulating .
after he refuses to make love , she decides to find someone else to play the role of sperm donor .
the other couple , lucky ( nick nolte ) and phyllis mann ( julie christie ) , are an older pair , but they 're no more content than jeffrey and marianne .
a mysterious fracture in their past relationship has driven them apart .
they remain married as a matter of convenience , but , since phyllis wo n't allow lucky to touch her , they have an unspoken agreement whereby he can fool around as much as he wants provided that no lasting bond is established as a result of these affairs .
the landscape of emotional pain between them is palpable .
the four characters begin interacting when marianne hires lucky as a handyman to fix up the inside of the apartment she shares with jeffrey .
the two of them are immediately attracted to one another , and it does n't take long before they 're lounging together , naked , in her pool .
meanwhile , jeffrey , who is captivated by older women , runs into phyllis in a hotel bar , is smitten , and invites her to accompany him on a weekend retreat to the mountains .
the romantic couplings of the characters are interesting in that they illustrate the multiple faces of love .
sex means something different to everyone ?
to jeffrey , it 's an unpleasant chore , a loss of control ;
to marianne , it 's a means to a maternal end ; to lucky , it 's an enjoyable distraction that blocks out his marital troubles ; and to phyllis , it 's a method of establishing or denying emotional closeness .
ultimately , none of these characters appears to love anyone else as much as they love themselves .
the greatest strength of the film lies not in the script , but in the performances .
jonny lee miller is perfect as the selfish , callous , suit - and - tie businessman .
those who recall him as sickboy in trainspotting will find that he is almost unrecognizable here as the image of conformity .
lara flynn boyle , who was n't impressive in rudolph 's equinox , is greatly improved , making marianne a jumble of sexiness and vulnerability .
nick nolte is delightful as the uninhibited lucky , and he manages to deliver some of rudolph 's most pregnant lines with practiced ease . the clear standout , however , is julie christie , who is nothing short of delicious
as the world - weary phyllis .
her often wry , occasionally cutting asides are the source of much of the film 's humor , and there 's hardly ever a moment when she does n't steal the spotlight from her co - stars .
i do n't know if afterglow is the film to convert rudolph- detractors , but it seems that this movie is a little more accessible than some of the director 's earlier productions .
enough of his trademark style remains , however , to reassure his supporters .
afterglow is basically a four - pronged character study .
the plot is not especially compelling , but the character interaction is , and that 's the real reason to see this motion picture .
rudolph has painted an able picture of the non - romantic side of love -- the one that has more to do with tolerance and familiarity than with affection and attraction .
the story is absorbing nothing short of delicious delightful is greatly improved the acting is top - notch the clear standout manages to deliver some of rudolph 's most pregnant lines with practiced ease returned to his unique brand is perfect as an intriguing