Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

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.

From the tag-line, I expected this movie to be about a secret, lusty affair and a jealous, raging husband who takes things too far. The secret, lusty affair part is right, but, it wasn't exactly what I was expecting in terms of storyline. Which isn't' to say the story itself is bad, it's not, but the execution of it was hard to take seriously at times.First off, usually with these adultery movies, we at least understand why the adulterer wants to cheat. I found that the exposition into Connie's life was not adequate enough for me to feel sorry for, or at the least understand her. She lives in a quiet suburb, she has been "happily" married for 11 years, she has an 8 year old son, who is cute, but somewhat annoying, as boys that age can be, her house is in a state of disarray because of this, and she seems to spend her days... doing... not much. She goes into town one day (wearing heels and a tight fitting dress... to shop for "auction items?") and randomly falls into a *gasp* sexy French man. She scrapes her knee in the tumble and the sexy French man invites her in to clean up. Cue sexual tension. Turns out, the French man makes his living as a bookseller and offers to give her a book of poetry about getting "drunk off Life", and inside the book he has snuck his phone # in it, for her to discover while she opens the book one day at home. Of course, being the foolish woman she is, she decides to call him, and things escalate from there...Now I won't reveal any more details, but at times it is just hard to take Diane Lane's character seriously. I won't disagree that her acting is amazing, but just the way the character is written and her actions is just extremely frustrating. At times, she is a guilty housewife, a lustful adulterer, and a terrible liar. The only character who I truly feel for and believe is fully developed and genuine is the husband, who displays an honest and believable reaction to finding out about the affair (let's face it, obviously he will find out, who are we kidding)...But, honestly, this movie had the potential for a higher rating from me... it just needed better execution overall.

Unfaithful!So, as far the storyline goes, it's known to most, and yet, worth a quick recap for the interest of some. A wife, apparently well settled into an eleven years old marriage with a eight year old living proof for a boy-kid, busy and lonely perhaps just as most at her age and standing would be, steps into that infamous pit that society calls adultery. She bumps into this stranger one fine stormy afternoon, joins him for coffee, and thereafter for sex the next day and every other days thereon. Husband starts with getting an inkling, investigates, finds out, and then, confronts. No, not with the woman but with the lover. The confrontation that starts so well that it could even dig into the profound "why" and take the issue (no, not problem! Issue.) by it's horn, however, unfortunately, rather, turns into a murder scene as the husband loses control over what he was meant to do and hits the guy on the head with a gift that he gave her and then she gave him in turn. The rest of the movie becomes a matter of eventual mutual knowledge, that they know that they know, and of course, police. It ends with a note where a peaceful kid sleeps in the car backseat while the couple, musing over how their rest of life could be a beautiful escapade, both term as important, pulls up their car outside the police station and kisses passionately as the traffic signal goes from red to green to yellow, back to red.Poetic? Maybe. Unresolved? Yes.But, question remains. What about that bull that we did not take by the horn? Really, what about that?Why did it happen? Why does it happen, that way?Just the feeling of feeling special, that? That thing of being treated like not just a wife but a woman? Being told she's beautiful? Being awaited, being looked forward to, being seen off, being missed? Being treated like she exists? Being taken interest in? Oh yes, perhaps!Or perhaps, more. Perhaps, knowing that life holds more treasure than what 'they' hand out to you if you don't ask. Perhaps!No, viewer. You don't have to wrap it up with a certificate, good or bad. Neither do you have to play safe to just say, yeah perhaps.. but no, not safe! Not judgment, not wisdom. Not the trap of security; not the courage to break free, either.Just, accept. Accept that it happened. Accept that it happens.It's a mistake! - What's a mistake? Either you do things, or you don't.PS: And hence, bear with me – A poem! - Mistakes, memories!

Connie (Diane Lane) and Ed Sumner (Richard Gere) are a suburban married couple with a kid Charlie (Erik Per Sullivan). Nothing terrible has happened but their marriage shows signs of wear. Then the winds of change starts to blow literally, and she collides with Paul Martel (Olivier Martinez) in the city. He helps her out with her skinned knee. She just can't keep him out of her mind and calls him up. She keeps returning to him and finally submits to his charms. However Ed starts putting it all together.Diane Lane makes cheating classy. This movie may not work with somebody else. Never has a woman thinking about sex look so great. The story is basically a romance novel. One thing director Adrian Lyne knows about is how to class up some sexual ugliness. The use of classical piano almost makes the audience root for the cheaters. I am less certain about the on-the-nose Olivier Martinez, but the appealing Diane Lane makes up for any deficiencies.