The Two Faces of January (2014)

 

"The Two Faces of January" felt like a deja vu from the first 10 minutes, and it didn't take long to figure out the reason behind that is "The Talented Mr. Ripley". After all, both movies are based on novels written by the same Patricia Highsmith. I didn't read any of the two, but the character construction seemed similar, as well as the type of action, the time setting, even the chosen locations although in one we're set in Greece and in the other in Italy - both cases are of sunny areas on the Mediterranean shore.

Since "The Talented Mr. Ripley" is not exactly among my favorite movies, neither "The Two Faces of January" felt much better. All the action revolves around a couple visiting Greece, Chester and Colette, where he's an ex broker from New York who fled with his investors money. Found by a private investigator, who dies following a short quarrel, Chester is forced to find an escape route and employs a young American guide to help him with that, Rydal, who's nothing but a small crook. So, we have sort of love triangle forming, where you know from start that the story won't end very well.  

I have to admit that I don't remember very well "The Talented Mr. Ripley", but as I said the deja-vu feeling was there. Still, at the moment I watched that, it felt more credible than what we have here, which looks more like a B version of the same genre. The only part that I remember quite clearly in "The Talented Mr. Ripley" was the sudden unexpected stop after the final scene. For this I have to give credit to the current movie which has a decent closure. That's pretty much all about it.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5