Keira Knightley and Eva Mendes join forces in this tantalizing and emotionally powerful story of trust, lust and deception. Last Night is a brilliant evocation of all the grey zones of fidelity – how a choice made in a mere instant can be of regrettable and irrevocable consequence. Michael and Joanna Reed (Sam Worthington and Keira Knightley) seem to have it all. Young, attractive and successful, they’re a married couple who’ve lucked into spiritual and material well-being, sharing a comfortable and seemingly perfect life in their trendy Manhattan apartment. But when the Reeds attend one of Michael’s work parties, Joanna witnesses a suspicious moment between her husband and his beautiful new co-worker, Laura (Eva Mendes). The incident is fleeting and ambiguous – Joanna can’t be sure what she did or didn’t see – but it sows an insidious seed of doubt that festers at the core of their love.
In her breakthrough directorial debut, Massy Tadjedin probes the depths of her characters’ psychologies; every thought, feeling and instinct reverberates with intimate force. As the characters’ selfish motivations are pushed and pulled by the powers of lust and loyalty, a central question arises: can suspicion itself provoke, or justify, infidelity? Nothing is glossed over in this examination of the mechanics of betrayal, where the dynamics of doubt are explored to riveting effect.
Tadjedin elicits superlative performances from her actors and Knightley, in particular, does some of her best work to date, imbuing Joanna with maturity, compassion and an unbridled charge of desire. When Joanna reunites with her former flame Alex (Guillaume Canet), the chemistry that comes to life threatens to overwhelm her own feelings of fidelity towards Michael. Turning conventional concepts of morality on their head, Tadjedin cleverly manipulates our sympathies for each character, making Last Night a provocative film about modern love and marriage.
LAST NIGHT is in Cinema’s nationwide June 3, 2011
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