Review of Unfaithful

Diane Lane cheats on husband Richard Gere with hunky Olivier Martinez, hence the title of the film. Based on the much smarter Claude Chabrol film "La Femme infidèle," this American remake directed by Adrian Lyne ("Indecent Proposal" "Fatal Attraction") is slickly made, but lacking in any depth, outside of the dramatic sutuation. The film was adapted by Alvin Sargent, who's written everything from "Paper Moon" to "Ordinary People" to the recent Marvel Spider-Man films and also by William Broyles Jr. (Appollo 13" and "Flags of Our Fathers"), so you might have expected a better script, and Lyne is a director who's films are typically only as good as his scripts. The Chabrol film presented a routine marriage reinvigorated by the husband's murder of his wife's lover, but Lyne's film doesn't go anywhere that dark and ends on a rather ambiguous note. What "Unfaithful" does feature is an excellent performance by Diane Lane, who really carries the water for the film. Lane makes her character's choices and actions believable, elevating what could have easily been an empty-headed Zalman King "Red Shoes Diaries" type of softcore film to something more interesting. She makes her character's inner conflict palpable and pulls the audience into her character's justifications for her choices, right or wrong. Besides Lane, the film also benefits from a fine score by composer A.P. Kaczmarek and lush photography by Peter Biziou. Lyne is an interesting commercial director who poses interesting questions and situations in his films, but most lack the depth to be considered much beyond commercial entertainment ("Jacob's Ladder" being the exception). Overall, this is a mediocre story that's vastly elevated by a strong performance by Lane. I may be biased in favor of this film because I've had a crush on Diane Lane ever since I was 11-years old and I saw her in "Six Pack" with Kenny Rogers.