White-hot trashiness marks ‘Unfaithful’

In Theaters

UNFAITHFUL, directed by Adrian Lyne, written by Alvin Sargent and William Broyles Jr., based on a script by Claude Chabrol. 123 minutes. Rated R.

“Unfaithful,” the latest cautionary tale about marital infidelity from Adrian Lyne, is fascinating for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which is its white-hot trashiness, which liberates the film to become the guiltiest of pleasures – a pure, unadulterated melodrama about adultery – while also rendering large chunks of it an unintended comedy.

It’s never boring, though it is fair to say that a good deal of it is beautifully, unforgettably cheap in its own pretentious way. Imagine a General Foods International Coffee commercial whipped into a sexual frenzy that includes public sex, sadomasochism and some other notable acts of “indecency,” and you have a good idea of what to expect in Lyne’s film.

Inspired by Claude Chabrol’s 1969 French film, “La Femme Infidele,” “Unfaithful” remains true to the core of its predecessor’s European sensibility while also underscoring an American accountability. It tries to have it both ways, but since it can’t, it doesn’t.

The film stars Diane Lane as Connie Sumner, an upper-middle-class suburban New Jersey housewife who seemingly has it all – a great husband in Edward (Richard Gere), a great son in Charlie (Erik Per Sullivan), a sprawling house overlooking a lake, an active social life and the envy of her friends.

But on what must be the biggest windstorm ever to hit New York, Connie, who’s called “Con” by her husband, begins a whirlwind affair in SoHo after she’s literally blown into the arms of Paul Martel (Olivier Martinez), a swarthy, stubbly rare-book dealer from Paris who quickly offers the 40ish Connie the one thing her life is missing – a rock-hard, 28-year-old body that can go all day and night.

Since the film is from Lyne, whose previous forays into the bedroom include “91/2 Weeks,” “Indecent Proposal” and “Fatal Attraction,” “Unfaithful” unleashes the passion between Connie and Peter with all the subtlety of soft-core porn. They have sex in movie theaters, cramped restrooms, elevators, hallways, and even on top of one of Peter’s musty piles of books. Their affair is so steamy, it’s enough to make the “Emmanuelle” crowd blush.

Lane, who’s been acting for 30 years, has been the adulterous wife before in 1999’s “A Walk on the Moon,” but here, her performance is more daring and provocative, the best part of a movie whose over-the-top first three-quarters is redeemed by a final act that turns deadly serious as Edward becomes wise to Connie’s affair – and Lyne brushes the silliness away with devastating moments that recall the more sensational aspects of “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and last year’s “In the Bedroom.”

Grade: B-

On video and DVD

THE OTHERS, written and directed by Alejandro Amenabar. 104 minutes. Rated PG-13.

Alejandro Amenabar’s old-fashioned ghost story, “The Others,” stars Nicole Kidman as Grace, a gorgeous young aristocrat reminiscent of Grace Kelly who’s living alone with her two children in a sprawling Victorian mansion on the British Isle of Jersey.

The year is 1945, Grace’s husband (Christopher Eccleston) hasn’t returned from World War II and is feared dead, and her children, Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley), are suffering from a disease that makes them fatally susceptible to light.

Fastidious and grim, her lean body sewn tightly into haute couture, Grace keeps the mansion in almost total darkness, shutting out the daylight by blocking the windows with heavy curtains, and protecting her children by locking them away in one of the mansion’s 50 shadowy rooms.

Recalling Henry James’ “The Turn of the Screw,” Peter Medak’s “The Changeling” and M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Sixth Sense,” “The Others” understands the conventions of the genre and uses them well. It doesn’t rely on cheap thrills to generate its considerable tension and fear – its utter lack of special effects is one of its greatest strengths – but its ability to surprise will depend on the level of its audience’s sophistication.

Indeed, there will be those who will delight in Amenabar’s ending, and others who will see it coming long before the final reel. One of the marks of a great horror film is its ability to keep everyone guessing. As good as “The Others” is, it falls just short of that.

Grade: B+

Christopher Smith’s reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, occasionally on Fridays on E! Entertainment’s “E! News Weekend,” Tuesdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5” and Thursdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5:30” on WLBZ-2 and WCSH-6. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.