Chloe (2010)
Last night, i finally decided to watch something i had saved up on my PVR a few weeks ago. It's a movie i had heard a bit about & considering it was directed by someone who's movies i generally like, Atom Egoyan, i decided to pvr it when it was shown on one of the movie channels. It stars Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson & the gorgeous Amanda Seyfriend in the role of "Chloe".
"Chloe" as the movie Liam Neeson was working on in Toronto when his late wife Miranda Richardson died in Montreal due to an earlier skiing accident on Mont-Tremblant. Early in the movie, a student of his sends him a text message saying "Thank you for last night.....Miranda xox". I wonder if this was added to the scene due to the infortunate tragedy, or was it part of the movie all along? None of the reviews i've read have mentionned this tidbit.
The movie begins with Neeson speaking in front of an audience in a NYC auditorium. The audience appears to be students, and a cutie asks him aloud if he'll go have a few drinks with them, which he declines since he's expected back home on his birthday. Meanwhile, his wife, played by the always wonderful Julianne Moore, is seen receiving guests at her home, no doubt having organized a surprise birthday party for her husband, who is due in shortly. The scene then cuts to Neeson, who calls him from NYC to tell her that he's missed his flight by a couple of minutes & will only be in later when she'll be in bed. We then see in the background the same cutie who had asked him to go for drinks. The viewer is left to guess what happened next.
The next day, the Julianne Moore character, Catherine, wakes up & the Liam Neeson character is in the bedroom getting dressed, apologizing once again for arriving late. We eventually learn that she has doubts about his reasons for missing his flight. Call it that 'woman intuition' that many merbites might be familiar (or not so) with. She then begins to suspect that he's having an affair with a student of his after she discovers the text message (with an attached picture of the two of them together) sent to him by "Miranda".
When then observe Catherine looking out her office window, watching a beautiful blond woman with an older gentleman. We later find out that the young woman in question is "Chloe", a high-end escort. We are made to believe that Moore is quite aware that the young lady is an escort, and we see her entering a nearby hotel. Moore, a gynecologist, appears to be in deep thoughts as she's staring at the young woman. Cut to a scene where Catherine & her husband are having dinner with another couple. You'll recognize well-known Canadian actor R.H. Thomson as the male dining with them. One thing about movies made in Canada, you'll always spot several Canadian actors in the movie since it's part of the regulations involved when making a movie in Canada: you need to have a certain percentage of Canadian actors in your movie. However, in this case, it's totallly a Canadian movie: the characters live in Toronto, the movie is made in Toronto, the director is Canadian, many actors are Canadian....but the three main actors are imports.
Back to the restaurant scene. Catherine spots "Chloe" sitting with a gentleman. We then realize that it's probably that Catherine chose this restaurant in order to bump into Chloe, since we're lead to believe that she's aware that Chloe spends quite a bit of time meeting clients at that particular hotel or lounge. Chloe is seen going to the bathroom (e.g. 'powder room') and Catherine follows her there. They meet, speak briefly, mention their disgust about men in general, and then go back to their respective tables. The R.H. Thomson (whom i loved in "Charlie Grant's War") character then makes a passing reference that many of the women presently in the restaurant are escorts. We later see Catherine looking at Chloe's direction & they make eye contact.
In the next scene, Catherine accuses her husband of flirting with the waitress. Her paranoia is obvious & to confirm her suspicions about him, she meets up with Chloe & hires her to flirt with her husband. She wants to know if her husband will accept her advances, thus confirming that he's screwing around. The following day or so, Chloe meets up with her and tells her that she's made contact with Neeson. She will later inform her that they're relationship has become somewhat sexual in nature, but they still haven't slept together. Catherine, now nearly certain he's been screwing around, asks Chloe to sleep with him. We become aware during those exchanges that Catherine appears to be getting very turned on by Chloe's vivid descriptions of her encounters with the Neeson character....every little sexual tidbit is told in vivid detail.
After Chloe informs Catherine that she's with Neeson in a hotel room at Windsor Arms Hotel, Catherine later meets her in the room. The bed is undone & Chloe is nude. She wants Chloe to sit down & tell her every little detail of the sexual escapade. Later, Chloe attempts to comfort a distraught Catherine by kissing her on the lips, but is pushed away & appears hurt. The next time we'll see them together, it appears Catherine will want ot hire her for herself in order to experience what happened between Chloe her husband. But first, she wants proof from Chloe that she doesn't have hiv or any std's. The next day or so, Chloe shows up at her office with the proof (lab results), and happens to bump into Catherine's sons, which she seems to find to her liking & flirts with him. Later, Catherine goes to see her at the hotel, and they have paid sex, which they both seem to enjoy very much. The following day, Chloe goes to her office to give her flowers. She has also sent her an email with a picture of the two of them together in bed, and has called many times. Catherine doesn't seem pleased at the intrusion, and tells Chloe she no longer requires her services. That it was a business transaction, nothing more, and no wants her out of their lives. Chloe appears to take this very hard, and informs her that the money part doesn't matter anymore. Catherine doesn't seem to care & wants her out of their lives.
That's where the movie will start taking off & getting into gear. I won't divulge any further details other than to say that all of the major characters involved (including Catherine's son) will be involved in one way or another. The movie will turn from erotic/mystery to erotic/thriller. There will be suspense. You'll then start to question everyone's motives. I wasn't crazy of the ending, but it's quite possible Egoyan had no other choice. It's the kind of movie that had me thinking about it the following day & that i will likely want to watch again.
By the way, the Chloe character reminds me of a few women of the biz that i've met over the years. I'll have to re-watch the ending credits once again in order to check out if i don't recognize any names as 'technical advisors'. Here's a paragraph i liked from reading Roger Ebert's review (he gave the movie 3.5 out of 4 stars), which reminded me of what one of Mtl's most popular escorts at the time once told me:
"At one point she's asked how she can relate to some of her clients, who might seem unattractive, even repugnant. A call girl has no idea who will open the door after her knock, and the ground rules are that she will gratify the client's desires, if he can pay and she doesn't feel in personal danger. But how can she endure some of them? "I try to find something I can love," she says."
If you want to read up more about it (and a much better review than my own), check out Roger Ebert's great review of "Chloe":
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100324/REVIEWS/100329990/1023
(However, i suggest that you watch the movie before reading Ebert's review)
