Steve Rose 

The Two Faces of January review – classy but conventional Highsmith thriller

Crime, glamour and sexual intrigue combine in this Patricia Highsmith adaptation set in 1960s Athens starring Kirsten Dunst, writes Steve Rose
  
  

2013, THE TWO FACES OF JANUARY
Sunny landscapes shaded with suspicion … Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst in The Two Faces of January. Photograph: Studio Canal/Sportsphoto/Allstar Photograph: Studio Canal/Sportsphoto/Allstar

There are many attractive parts to this thriller – handsome leads, a meaty Patricia Highsmith plot, Mediterranean sunlight on cream linen suits – but it's no greater than the sum of them. It pitches its characters into hot water with consummate efficiency: Isaac is an American tour guide in 1960s Athens with for a wealthy mark or a pretty woman. He finds both in Mortensen and Dunst's holidaying couple, but their casual acquaintance gets serious after a sudden murder. The sunny landscape becomes shaded with suspicion, deception and sexual jealousy as the trio take flight. Mythological themes are neatly worked in, from Theseus to Oedipus, but Amini primarily draws on another classical tradition here: Anthony Minghella, and his own Highsmith adaptation, The Talented Mr Ripley. That's classy company – mature middle-classy, to be specific – though there's the feeling this would crackle that bit more if it had taken some risks of its own.

 

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