1.5/4  Less Than the Sum of Its Parts
I've heard repeatedly that this film is a poor representation of a stellar book. Having not read the book, I can only judge the film on its own merit -- and I find it unfortunately lacking. The acting, especially from Daniel Craig and Sa... (read full)

4/5 An ambitious, ambivalent, ambiguous tapestry of a film
  by C. B Collins Jr. (Atlanta, GA United States)
Let me start by saying that the excellent book, Enduring Love, by Ian McEwan, and the very good filmed version are two distinct works of art and there is enough divergence in emphasis that one can not be compared to the other. I strongly suggest that the book and the film be enjoyed and analyzed separately since there were modifications and adaptations made during the script-writing process that makes the film a unique stand alone product and not just a film about an excellent book.
The pace of this film is interesting and noteworthy since it involves how everyday people in everyday life respond to both unexpected tragic and emotionally disturbing situations. Daniel Craig is excellent as a college professor and Samantha Morton as his sculptress lover. They are both masterful actors who bring a sense of reality to the odd situations they encounter in this film.
A terrible accident and tragedy initiates the film and brings Joe (played by Craig) in first contact with Jed (Rhys Ifans), his dark tormentor. Joe has adopted a biological deterministic view of sexual relationships, love, and love making. He introduces this to the college class he teaches on English romantic poetry. Thus he sees romantic love as a purely biologically driven impulse created so that humans would reproduce. He continues to expound on this biological determinism, often in front of his lover at dinner parties, and seems to be unaware of the manner in which he is killing the lust in his relationship by continually referring to it through biological determinism rather than as a human experience that is extremely difficult to reduce to any one philosophical perspective.
The encounter between Joe and Jed is a multi-dimensional encounter. One approach would be that Joe has encountered the very thing he has taught in his classroom, that sexual obsession is a driving biologically driven force that is beyond rational control in some situations. Yet, when Joe is actually confronted with the power of such a biologically driven obsessive attachment, he gradually becomes rattled and thrown off center emotionally. He becomes as mad as the mad man that has fallen so deeply in love with him. This first dimension would be rationality confronting determinism.
Another approach would be the Jungian interpretation that Jeb represents Joe's dark shadow. Joe preaches and teaches biological determinism because he wishes to be beyond its control, for after all, he is a professor of English romantic poetry. Teaching biological determinism gives him the illusion that he can control such forces. The appearance of Jeb proves him wrong. In Jungian psychology, the more the conscious mind tries to suppress the shadow, the creepier the shadow becomes as it stalks the ego, seeking acceptance. Thus the film could be interpreted as classic Jungian psychology. This second dimension would be the ego confronting the shadow.
A third approach would be based on the ancient Greek concept of the Furies, those terrible tormenting images that follow the guilty around and plague them with feelings of guilt and remorse. Joe was one of the 4 men that let go of the red balloon. Whereas the pediatrician hung on and dies from the fall, if all had held on, the boy might have been saved. Joe is tormented as to whether he let go of the balloon first, telling himself repeatedly that he was not the first to let go. The grief and remorse impact his judgment. Joe spends hours drawing balloons, cutting balloons out of magazines, and pinning balloon images up on his office bulletin board. Thus Jed is a Fury, a mythological creature come to haunt Joe's life for the sin of being the first to let go of the red balloon.
These three interpretations are also interwoven with contemporary mental health concepts such as post-traumatic stress disorder, a diagnosis that Claire (Samantha Morton) offers to Joe. The contemporary social phenomenon of the `stalker' is also evident. Jed could be seen as a stalker of Joe. The observation that all of these interpretations are interwoven into this film's narrative is part of the film's strength.
Rhys Ifans is excellent as Jed, revealing slowly and incrementally the extent of his insane obsession. As Jed becomes more blatantly confrontive and Joe becomes more threatened, those around him don't fully understand the external and internal drama that Joe is encountering.
I watched the film with a friend who decided to stop watching after the first hour. He said, "This is a film about people arguing." At some level he is correct. This is not an action film and the words and actions of all characters are ambivalent and ambiguous. But this makes it a rich tapestry of possibility and interpretation.


4/5 Mesmerizing Thriller
  by Michael B. Druxman (Austin, TX)
ENDURING LOVE (2004) is the most mesmerizing and unique psychological thriller that I've seen in some time.

It begins with a tragedy. Daniel Craig and girlfriend Samantha Morton are picnicking in a field outside of London when they witness a freak, fatal ballooning accident. Craig and several other men tried to help prevent the death, but they were forced to let go of the balloon.

Awhile later, Craig, who feels a certain amount of guilt about the accident, gets a visit from Rhys Ifans, one of the other men present on that tragic day. What Ifans wants of him is not immediately clear, but this strange man begins to stalk Craig, following him wherever he goes. Ultimately, Ifans' presence and his own growing feelings of guilt begin to destroy Craig's life, including his relationship with Morton.

Directed by Roger Michell, this excellent film has a shocker of an ending.

© Michael B. Druxman

4/5 Enduring Skill of Daniel Craig
  by Hikari (Lima, OH USA)
Those unfamiliar with Daniel Craig prior to his brawny beefcake turn as 007 are in for a bit of a shock; like Daniel Day-Lewis, Mr. Craig molds his persona to suit each individual role and is unafraid to make extreme changes in his physical appearance to convey character. Here he plays Joe, a mild-mannered professor, whose placid domestic life with his girlfriend is disrupted by witnessing a freak accident. Joe's marriage proposal is ruined when a hot-air balloon comes crashing into the field where he's picnicking with his girlfriend, causing a tragic death and setting in motion a bizarre chain of events. Another man at the scene attempting to render aid becomes fixated on Joe and morphs into that most tenacious of creatures: the romantically-obsessed stalker. In the aftermath of the accident, as Joe struggles with guilt over having not helped enough and the unwelcome attentions of his new admirer, his formerly happy life rapidly unravels. Rhys Ifans, best known as Hugh Grant's slovenly roommate in "Notting Hill" plays the stalker, using his storklike frame and unconventional looks to chilling effect. Craig displays yet more of his multifaceted acting chops in a performance more delicate and human-sized than Bond. An unsettling little film you won't easily forget, but another solid entry in the Craig canon that proves Mr. Craig is the most nuanced actor to ever fill 007's shoes.

4/5 slow moving movie that tears at the emotions
  by Margaux Paschke (New York)
This movie has one heck of a beginning. While on a romantic picnic, Joe (Daniel Craig) watches a red balloon fall to the ground. An old man tumbles out as a boy remains trapped inside. The man desperately tugs on the rope attached to the basket in the hopes of keeping the boy close to the ground. Joe runs to help him along with several other people. All of them valiantly try to keep the balloon down and they are close to succeeding until a gust of wind lifts the balloon up higher and higher. All of the men hold desperately on until Joe looks down and realizes he has to let go or risk serious injury. The others start dropping shortly after Joe does, except for one man. This man holds on, refusing to give up. Everyone watches in horror as the inevitable happens. Joe tells the crowd that they should go find him but only one man, named Jed, follows him. They come upon the fallen man who is sitting up. They run closer in amazement until the truth reveals itself. It is an extremely haunting visual.

After this dramatic opening scene, the movie is much slower paced. It dwells and revels in the gut wrenching emotional wreckage left by this incident on those involved. This crawling pace only adds to the creepiness that awaits us.

The experience haunts Joe and messes with his head. He replays it and recalculates over and over again, obsessively, and starts to withdraw. He cannot get over the fact that a doctor with a wife and small child put his own life at stake for a complete stranger. Joe digs into the man's life looking for answers but does not find any resolution.

Cue the reappearance of Jed. He wants to meet with Joe to talk things over. Despite inner bells ringing over Jed's demeanor, he agrees. Joe wants to reconnect with someone who shared the same experience but soon realizes how loopy Jed is and walks away after a very awkward conversation. But this is not the end by a long shot as things get more and more unsettling. Jed has mistakenly taken the intense emotion he feels from the shared incident as "love" for Joe and takes stalking very seriously. At first, I didn't understand why Joe would put up with it. Why not just call the police or something? But Joe suffers from terrible guilt over being the first man to let go and give up on the rescue attempt. These two random people have a bond that was formed by their intense experience and this bond is not so easily shaken when stirred with guilt.

I recommend this movie for when a viewer is in the mood for something heavy. A great film as long as you know what you are getting; otherwise, this movie will just drag on for you.


3/5 Enduring Love
  by Sandra L. Foster (St. Petersburg, FL United States)
While I really like Daniel Craig, and he did some fine acting in this movie, the story made no sense and I had a hard time following the convoluted story line.