Zipper

Just watched "ZIPPER" 9/10 - a very dark and gripping film about destruction by obsession.

The central character is portrayed by Patrick Wilson and this is another very brave choice of role after "Hard Candy" where he played a man internet grooming an underage female.

How many leading actors would dare to play these roles?

He's not just an amazing actor he's obviously fearless with his career and image.

The rest of the cast are superb too. Ray Winstone in a new kind of role for him..he's such a good actor and thank goodness he was allowed to keep his London accent after falling flat on his face in "The Departed" trying to be a Boston accented tough guy.

I only watched this because I think Patrick Wilson is an appealing lead. There is something so All-American about him, yet he plays characters faced with potentially compromising situations.

First off, some reviewer from Belgium who hates America (big surprise there)said, "Who cares what politicians do in their personal lives?" Sorry pal, but this guy did not have an affair. He was using prostitutes. That's against the law and he works in the U.S. Attorney's office. Do you understand? The dialog here is excellent. I never expected that in what I thought would be a routine infidelity drama. There is a great speech when the main guy is talking to some college students and he explains that you cannot be anything you want, despite that clichéd speech staple. You can only be what you have the aptitude for.

There is another moment of dialog where an FBI agent speaks about guys who cheat on their wives. Nice job. Writing rarely gets enough credit. In this case, the Writer was also the Director and a woman.

This picture is set in the South, yet we never hear which state and the main guy is the only one with a strong accent. That was awkward. I'll assume it was Baton Rouge.

The acting was outstanding. I have never seen Wilson show that kind of range. The wife character was perfectly cast. She looked like someone who may have been attractive years ago, but was well past her prime.

What I got from this story was that men never stop craving young women. Once their wives go past 36, the men start craving younger options. It's just the way things are in a world where we live to such old ages.

The sex scenes were more tastefully done than I have ever seen in any such film.

Like some other reviewer mentioned, there was a key scene where our protagonist shows his humanity, but still can't stop his need to indulge his addiction. Nicely done. The girl involved flashed a brief and subtle look of disappointment that spoke a thousand words.

The picture is a tad slow. That was my only complaint. I gave it a 6 because the plot is not original and the pacing dragged. But it's worth watching for sure.

This film tells the story of a married lawyer with a promising political career, who gets side tracked by experiences with ladies from an escort agency.

"Zipper" keeps me engaged because the I like the story. The first half is more erotic while the second half is more of a thriller. How Patrick Wilson does a good job portraying his character, who lets his urges overtake his sensibility. His guilt in the diner with the reporter is piercingly good. I think the story is well presented, easy to follow and engaging. The scenes are nicely shot as well. I enjoyed watching "Zipper"!

First, let me reveal that I think Patrick Wilson is one of the most under-appreciated, naturalistic actors working today. His pairing with Kate Winslett in the film of Tom Perotta's brilliant "Little Children" was sublime. I even liked him in Joe Carnahan's over-the-top (but still lovable) "Stretch". So when I read the summary of "Zipper" and knew he played the lead, I had to see it, despite the uniformly negative reviews.

Mora Stephens' film revolves around a seemingly straight-laced upstanding guy, Sam Ellis (Wilson), who --- perhaps subconsciously --- lets his sexual addiction spin wildly out of control only a few months before being prepped for a senate seat bid. I say subconsciously because there are a lot of indications, through the script and Wilson's largely underplayed performance, that Sam's not a real happy guy. His "career" has been architected and steam-rolled by his passive-aggressive wife (Lena Headey), their marriage is on the rocks (though on the surface it seems fine) and he's constantly being given the stink-eye for even mentioning ethics to his jaded boss.

Wilson imbues Ellis with so many shades of gray and doubt that it really is quite riveting watching him unravel, back-pedal, and flail madly as his world threatens to crumble around him. And that's really all there is to this movie. It's a potent character (not plot) piece on the subject of addictive, compulsive behavior and sex addiction in particular. It really treats the dysfunction as just as potent an urge as the one a junkie craves in hard drugs. You can *see* the helplessness and frantic drive in Wilson's face and really believe that he believes he *has* to surf to that porn site, he *has* to call that escort... in his mind he has no alternative.

This is brave, unflinching stuff and not many people will empathize or even care to see such repugnant behavior in action, yet Stephens and Wilson don't spare us anything, even a brutally uncompromising, cynical, and quite believable ending.

It's amazing that people say things like "How could Ellis be so dumb?" Like ANY kind of addictive behavior is something people actually sit down and mull over, weighing the pros and cons, before getting their fix! Do addicts have the control to change their behavior? Of course. They just can't conceive of it. And that's the point of "Zipper".

It's a funny title for a serious film. I have heard the film was loosely based on a real scandal. This is the story of a federal prosecutor whose life has been decent until he becomes addicted to the escort service. As his wife is pushing him for entering the politics, on the other side, he's unable to come out of his new habit. The time comes when both these things can't go together, he has to pick the side and that brings the end to the tale.

Really an interesting story aspect, but slightly I was not happy with how it was presented on the screen. Though the characters were excellent and the perfect executions by its actors. Patrick Wilson was good, even in a small screenspace Lena Headey excelled. The other characters influenced quite strongly in the film. Like their intentions over the film events which played a major twist in the storytelling. The people can go any length to achieve the bigger thing is the one of the main messages of the film.

The theme was strong, but there were some weaker spots in the narrations. Although, an acceptable and enjoyable film. The end was totally unexpected, but unbelievably not that smart from the character's perspective. Surely an average film, but definitely not a bad or an awesome film. Its about the scandal of a high profile figure or at least trying to be, though everything were told from a single angle. So I hope you watch it and give an honest opinion than going against it from even before the start just because everybody already doing that.

6/10