Tom Ford is most known for his work as a designer, and Nocturnal Animals does not disappoint with stunning imagery. It seems as though Tom Ford wanted some part of this story to be about materialism and greed, and about the paths we choose to fulfill our lives, but that can get a bit lost underneath the story of revenge and Edward/Tony’s pain. Ultimately, while the vision of the film is excellently formed, it’s at times a bit too stylish and thus heavy-handed with some of the symbolism it presents. Even though the main character of the film is a woman, the film is about what she did, and what is being done to her (both in “real life” and within Edward’s story) - it’s not actually about her, and we don’t really ever get to know Susan very well as a character. Without spoiling too much, essentially the book ‘Nocturnal Animals ’ is Edward’s revenge for what he feels Susan did to him. Performances like Adam’s and Gyllenhaal’s almost obscure the fact that at the core, the story of this film is misogynistic women are treated like objects or plot devices to fuel men’s pain and rage, and too much blame is placed on Susan. While movies that jump between time frames and story lines can sometimes be confusing, the aesthetics and scenery along with the excellent performances keep the storylines from becoming muddled. Amy Adams is great as both the past and present version of herself. Not only does Nocturnal Animals tell a story within a story, it also shows us both the past and present of Susan’s life with Edward, and now with Hutton. Laura Linney makes an appearance as Susan’s mother, Anne, and although Laura Linney is only 10 years older than Amy Adams, she plays her wealthy and demanding mother beautifully. There are some smaller roles that are well crafted as well, like Karl Glusman as Lou, who terrorizes Tony Hastings along with his friends Turk and Ray (played by Robert Aramayo and Aaron Taylor-Johnson). There’s a lot of excellent acting in this film, which is to be expected when you have a cast like Jake Gyllenhaal, Amy Adams, and Michael Shannon. The story told in the book ‘Nocturnal Animals ’ is a terrifying scenario to imagine, and Jake Gyllenhaal plays Tony Hastings expertly, portraying fear, grief, and anguish. We see Isla Fischer as Laura Hastings, a clear stand-in for Susan, and Jake Gyllenhaal as Laura’s husband, Tony Hastings (he also plays Susan’s “real life” ex-husband, Edward Sheffield). Listen to the latest episode of the AIPT Movies Podcast!Īs Susan begins to read, the movie shows us the story of the book ‘Nocturnal Animals ‘.
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