Une double vie

I liked the picture very much and realized at the end that it was not being filmed in Ireland but in Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, the site of the real, disastrous Swiss Air Flight crash several years ago. I have pictures that I shot in exactly the same spot which features the light house which you can see as they zoom in on the crash site at the end of the movie. The end credits did not include any of the actual location sites or credit giving to any of the establishments where they did the filming.The ending was a bit abrupt without mention of what happened to the character played by Scott Campbell. All in all, however, it was better than most of this type of story.

in the title role of a pilot's wife who must contend with his sudden mysterious death overseas. His plane went down, and she is besieged by officials and airline PR executives, all anxious to learn the truth, for their own varied interests. Campbell Scott is also very good as airline company man who follows Lahti to London. She hopes to clear her husband's name, but what she finds there only creates even greater turmoil.

Without giving away the twist, suffice to say her family in Massachusetts, her daughter, and her perceptions that her marriage was a happy one are challenged, and met with adversity. She handles this at first, incredulously (an amazingly underplayed performance by Lahti, reflecting shock and betrayal).

Written by Anita Shreve, the story takes the twist of the storyteller, (in this case Lahti) and her own personal story. She does not care about terrorism or what the peripheral facts of the case were. She lost her husband, and the facade she thought was her family. 8/10.

This has become one of my all-time favorite movies, and the book is also outstanding. I read the book first, and was glad that I did. After reading this book, Anita Shreve has become one of my favorite authors. "The Pilot's Wife" was a movie that keeps you riveted to your seat, awaiting the next surprise. You never know what to expect from one moment to the next. There is so much going on in this movie that you can watch it more than once and still enjoy it. I Have watched it 2-3 times, and can't wait to see it again. Christine Lahti is a wonderful actress, and I love her in this movie. She plays Kathryn like no one else could have, and makes her come to life on the screen. My favorite scene in this movie was when she came face to face with the secret life from her husband's past. I can't imagine being in a position such as this, especially after the death of your husband.

If you're a big fan of C Lahti - see this - her face is wonderful, catching myriad emotions with depth & grace.

The rest of it is lame - low plot, leads that die, ideas not followed through, unsatisfying characters going half-way, no pay off.

Campbell Scott, while easy on the eyes resorts to two tones - one flat & the other flatter.

Supporting cast has little to work with in the way of story, development or location. There is nothing redeeming about any of the film except for Lahti's acting.

You'd be better off browsing in the romance section of the used book store.

Stop me if you've seen this one before: hubby-missing-believed-dead,wifey-then-finds-out- doubtful-things-about-him...ah, but this movie goes beyond the usual formula, throwing in some political, and criminal factors...one is never sure how things are going to turn out.

Most of the characters are entertainingly devious, playing various parts to achieve each different end.., can one even count on the "heroine" wife, and her daughter ?

The dialogue is brief, and to the point, the characters ring true (even the false ones!), and I was absorbed for almost two hours...I didn't understand the ending, which is perhaps a failing of my intelligence, rather than the film's intent, whatever, that cost the film a point, I deducted another, because it was, after all, a formula film, and a third because it wasn't "Love With The Proper Stranger" - my benchmark for romantic/suspense films.

As (nearly)always, the actors are good, but I must make especial mention of Christine Lahti...when she first appears, she's just awakened, she looks drab, and her age...but, to me, she was still an attractive woman...that's charisma!