Some Velvet Morning

This film is masterfully pulled off... great acting, visuals, everything. Unfortunately, in my opinion it fits into a category of the "Irreversible" ilk, where you are made to watch something drawn-out and punishing, for the sole purpose of a "reveal" that everything is not as it seems (this film) or there is something more to it all which makes it even more punishing (this film and Irreversible). As another reviewer has said, it's not entertaining.

Sadly, the comedy of Neil LaBute's successes is lacking here, unless you consider the ending to be a joke. If it is, it's not funny.

I caught a glimpse of this cruel-for-cruelty's-sake side of LaBute when reading the short story about a murdered prostitute in his book, "Seconds of Pleasure", a story which I'd be surprised to see make it into the upcoming film version thereof.

The movie revolves around two people in a home talking, discussing, arguing, fighting, crying and looking back on their past relationship, that's it seriously. You immediately think to yourself that this would be perfect for a two person play and how did it make it to the big screen. But to seat there in your seat and watch Fred (Stanley Tucci), an attorney behave like some 16 year old and gorgeous Velvet (Alice Eve)have to speak to Fred like a child is almost insulting to your intelligence. As the conversation continues you begin to sense that their relationship is somewhere in the Fatal Attraction category. Fred speaks to Velvet like she is on the witness stand but Velvet is the adult in the room. After a while the conversation is getting old,scary and you wish the thing would just end. Not so fast, the movie ends in a very unique way that will make you take a deep breath and say "You got to be kidding me."

My IMDB pet peeve... people who watch a movie for 15 minutes, turn it off, and then race here to give it a "1" and actually SAY they turned it off without finishing it. These people should be banned...

I bring it up because "Some Velvet Morning" is a film that infuriatingly plods along, with the brilliant Stanley Tucci as a horrible, bitter guy in a pathetically desperate mode. He is thoroughly unlikeable and the movie is cringeworthy. But if you stay until the end... there's a plot twist that "rescues" the film... it doesn't make it good, mind you. But it becomes salvageable... and you think "wow, didn't expect that..." and then you can respect the whole effort more. But if you bailed early and ran here with your "1" and your hate, you missed some solid acting and a crazy ending. So, let this be a lesson to all. Don't judge too soon, hang in there, respect the effort, and give the film the chance to be what it is. If you still think it's a "1" then so be it. At least you can judge it fairly. The plot twist here took this from a "3" to a "6." Not bad.

... he's been there, done that time and again.. she is undoubtedly the wonderful surprise in this film. Beautiful and talented.. a very winning combination. It's not a movie that's going to get much mainstream recognition, but there's no doubt, she was absolutely phenomenal, exhibiting just how good an actor she truly is. A fan previously, but she's now amped it up to a new level of commitment. The storyline is as unrealistic as it can get, but you're not clued in until the final moments of the film. It's also a film that will benefit from repeated viewings.. what you might have missed the first time round will impress in added screenings.

"Some velvet mornin' when I'm straight I'm gonna open up your gate And maybe tell you 'bout Phaedra And how she gave me life And how she made it end." Lee Hazlewood.

Writer/director Neil LaBute acknowledges Swedish playwright August Strindberg after the credits of Some Velvet Morning. And well he should, for his Some Velvet Morning has naturalism with touches of Ibsen in an entertaining two hander that barely covers the violent potential of its male, Fred (Stanley Tucci) and female (Alice Eve). The film is contemporary-dialogue driven, and that works swell for me, a word guy.

Lee Hazelwood's lyrics, above, sung by Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra in the '70's, suggest that the mythical Phaedra, whom Hippolytus spurned, holds questions to be unanswered about the ballet between the sexes. LaBute's modern romance, albeit she is a prostitute, suggests few answers for lovers are yet to be found even over thousands of years.

As in Strindberg's Miss Julia, the sexual play is masked by a restraint that is in check only part way through the film. Fred returns to Velvet after four years expecting her to drop everything for him. The dialogue dance grows intense as it's clear she does not want to resume the relationship. She repeats, "You need to leave, before I get..." as he demands she finish the thought. Hers is largely a reactive role that harks back to times when women were barely heard or seen.

Although the intense sexual battle in the film might lead to violence, as it did in the Phaedra legend, restraint holds sway, just as you might expect from attorney Fred and classy call girl Velvet. The verbal violence does not have the high class intonations of, say, Tracey Letts' August: Osage County or the middle class rudeness of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf; it does deftly display the hidden horror of relationships gone bad. LaBute lets his actors suggest the bad blood between former lovers and by extension the dangers of any male-female contests.

I hope the film's success does not rest on the surprise ending, which may trivialize an eternal contest between males and females. The hooker- with-a heart of gold motif doesn't apply. This Adam and Eve are in charge of their fates, and it's not pretty.