The Film
When a wife hires a prostitute to seduce her possibly straying husband, she is the one who actually becomes seduced in Chloe, now available on Blu-ray. The Atom Egoyan film remade from the 2004 French erotic thriller Nathalie brings the plotline to the Canadian city of Toronto, but despite the location, the sexual tension is so high it plays like a fiddle. The question is whether this is a song the audience wants to hear, or whether like an out of tune violin it becomes far too piercing? Think of this as an overly dramatic episode of Three's Company, where a case of misunderstanding has tragic rather than comedic consequences.
For an intimate look at the film read David Kempler's review.
The Picture
Subdued tones dominate and play up colors including Julianne Moore's red hair and Amanda Seyfried's blond waves. Color and detail is stunning even when the focus is hazy for effect. Skin tones appear realistic in many of the movie's settings though at times Moore's skin tones are realistically pale and you get to see many of her freckles. The 1.85:1 transfer in 1080p is stunning to watch while the scenery might almost be more enjoyable than the movie.
The Sound
Chloe is more about subtlety and nuance than action. Because of this the sound is much more centered on dialog and the score, which is cued by actions in the movie. Conversation and environmental noises fill the 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio sound. The chatter of a surprise birthday party envelops the sound field while one-on-one conversation generally directs from the center channel. About the only thing that doesn't come through is why Moore just can't actually talk to her husband about her fears instead!
The Extras
A short list of extras includes a "making of" feature, deleted scenes and a commentary track. While the lack of any further content is disappointing, there might not be too much there. Perhaps Egoyan could have included a look at the original French film Nathalie with some comparison. Sony left the extras at a minimum and didn't push its BD-Live and movieIQ on the presentation.
Final Thoughts
A squirm-worthy plot screams of "bad idea" and can be hard to watch as a wife goes further and further to entrap her husband to prove he's cheating. In the Blu-ray, the presentation is better than the story.
Product Details
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