Christie shines in ‘Afterglow’

“AFTERGLOW,” written and directed by Alan Rudolph. Running time: 113 minutes. Rated R for language, sexuality and adult content. Playing nightly, March 2-5, at the Railroad Square Cinema, Waterville.

Thirty-three years since Julie Christie won an Oscar for her role as the androgynous waif in John Schlesinger’s “Darling,” the actress emerges triumphant in “Afterglow,” a little-known film that showcases Christie’s best performance in years and reminds us what real movie stars are — and what they should always be.

Winner of the New York and National Film Critics Award for Best Actress, and nominated this year for the Best Actress Oscar, Christie has never been as affecting as she is here. When she enters a room or when she merely turns to give the camera one of her knowing glances, the film’s strong supporting cast seems to fade as she comes immediately to the forefront. She has the style and luminous beauty of Audrey Hepburn, the wry, ironic sense of humor of Bette Davis and the fatal disillusionment Kim Basinger possessed in “L.A. Confidential.”

Rail-thin, the only flesh on Christie seems to be in her full lips, which smile even while her eyes don’t.

Why? Because her character, Phyllis Man, a former B-movie star whose marriage is on the rocks, is a woefully unhappy woman whose “soul needs an overhaul,” and who, at one point, sighs moodily when her doctor tells her after a routine checkup that she is going to live.

The root of Phyllis’ sadness won’t be revealed here, but it overshadows her life and her relationships, particularly her relationship with her husband, Lucky Mann (Nick Nolte), a kind, philandering contractor who has affairs with other women but only with the tacit permission of Phyllis, who is so emotionally removed and uninterested in sex, she doesn’t mind if Lucky fools around on the side — so long as he doesn’t get serious.

By love and by understanding, Lucky and Phyllis are bound even while they are dangerously afloat. “The hardest part is finding out too late that none of it lasts,” Phyllis tells Lucky early in the film, and then, in a haze of alcohol, she returns to watching herself in the ridiculous horror films she once made in a period of happiness.

Across town, a young couple is having marital problems of their own. Marianne Byron (Lara Flynn Boyle), a wealthy housewife yearning for a child, finds herself in a marriage to an arrogant, selfish, corporate-climbing husband (Jonny Lee Miller) who refuses to give her one.

Enter Lucky, who comes into Marianne’s life as a hired contractor and instead finds himself falling into a passionate affair with her — and potentially fathering her child. What ensues may stretch the film’s otherwise seamless lines, but in its final moments, “Afterglow” is snagged back to reality as Christie and Nolte, at their most powerful, suggest in a gripping scene that the glow of true love can indeed be rekindled — and reborn. Grade: A-

Video of the week

“EVENT HORIZON,” directed by Paul Anderson, written by Philip Eisner. Running time: 97 minutes. Rated R for violence, gore, language and nudity.

One of the basic rules in creating successful science fiction is the presentation of fresh, futuristic ideas that compel in spite of being lodged within the tight confines of the genre’s set formula. Third-rate directors and writers who have nothing new or interesting to say often depend too much on the glitz of special effects and the security of formula to help carry their films, even while their lack of ideas only proves to sink them.

This is nearly the case with Paul Anderson’s “Event Horizon,” a stylish, good-looking film that offers an involving buildup, but suffers from an ending that is so convoluted it undermines all the good that came before it.

Set in the year 2047, the film follows a rescue party on a secret mission to learn what happened to the Event Horizon, a spaceship that vanished somewhere near Neptune seven years earlier. Led by Capt. Miller (Laurence Fishburne), a scowling, brooding man unhappily under the technical advisement of the Event Horizon’s mad designer, Weir (Sam Neil), the crew finds the lost ship, boards it and eventually learns that when the ship vanished, it vanished into hell. Now back from that little sojourn and possessed by the devil, the ship begins turning against those who board it — with grisly results.

If you think this sounds like “Sphere” or Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1972 film “Solaris,” that’s because “Event Horizon” is of the same family. It doesn’t present any original ideas, yet it works the way an old tire works — its tread, worn down by overuse, is thin, pockmarked with age, not completely useless, mind you, but also not as fresh as it was when it first rolled off the showroom floor. Grade: C

Christopher Smith, a writer and critic who lives in Brewer, reviews films each Monday in the NEWS.