Adore makes sex boring

I’m a big fan of Dreama Walker, she of the Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 fame. When I heard she’d taken part in Compliance, it was a flick I had to see. Walker played the victim of a manipulative sexual assault engineered by someone pretending to be a police officer. It was so disturbing I couldn’t finish watching. I wish Adore had been just a bit more uncomfortable so that I could have bailed on it just like I did Compliance.

Adore follows the story of two best friends Lil and Roz (Naomi Watts and Robin Wright) who become intimate with each other’s sons Tom and Ian (James Frencheville and Xavier Samuel). The narrative skips through time, following the relationship between the two families through three generations. The story weaves in and out of their lives, exploring the complexity of their interpersonal dynamics.

Unfortunately, there was only one relationship that proved itself to be interesting, the one between Lil and Roz. Other characters question if their relationship was one beyond friendship, so much so that they question it themselves at one point. While they deny – even to each other – something more, the level of intimacy involved with sharing your son with you best friend is something deeper than I think they expected.

The boys were not nearly as interesting. Frencheville’s Tom in particular. Both the way the character was written and portrayed was wooden. His interactions with all but Lil (his partner in the trade) were barely believable. Ian was, on the other hand, the one person who actually came across as being emotionally invested in the arrangement. That emotion started things off, and was at the center of how the story came to a close.

As odd as it seems to see on paper, I actually expected the story to be sexier; not in the sense of more gratuity, but in describing how these two boys – young men – became involved with older partners. In neither case did it feel that there was any level of seduction involved. It actually felt like it was inevitable; either because of the possibly-too-deep bond between the mothers, or simply because the story demanded it. Other than the fact that these were four – or possibly three, but I’ll let you decide – very attractive people, Adore never really provided a reason for these relationships to begin.

How they ended, though, was much worse. I’d rather not spoil the third act for those intent on seeing the film, but suffice it to say, I wasn’t a fan. While the film time-jumps several times, it only announces it once (admittedly because every other jump is obvious, but that should tell you something about the necessity of this one). And when the dust finally settles on the love-square, the audience is left with very little. Why did these relationships evolve, and did they have any lasting effect on anyone involved? Their lives are changed, obviously, but do they care? I surely didn’t.