Film Review: ‘Third Person’ an Intriguing Yet Foreseeable Labyrinth

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Average: 5 (1 vote)

CHICAGO – Don’t you hate it when you figure out where a film is going long before it gets there? That could be a problem with “Third Person,” but writer/director Paul Haggis (“Crash”) also adds enough secrets to chew on and enough multiple pathways to explore. Enter at your own risk.

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 3.5/5.0
Rating: 3.5/5.0

This is an intertwining ensemble piece, much like the filmmaker’s previous 2005 Best Picture, “Crash,” and promises to be just as engaging as that film. Liam Neeson takes a break from action pictures to romance a younger woman in his story, as he goes from her writing mentor to lover. He struggles with a new novel in the background of all this, and the distance between his reality and his characters start to coincide. This is a treatise on love and all its dread and possibilities, and proves the assertion of Paul Haggis – in an interview with HollywoodChicago.com – “The more I learn about love and relationships, the less I know.”

The story relates three inter-connected love stories that take place in Paris, New York City and Rome. Michael (Liam Neeson) is a writer in Paris, and he is having an affair with one of his protégés, Anna (Olivia Wilde), and is separated from his wife Elaine (Kim Basinger). Concurrently, two other stories are taking place in other cities, but seem interconnected.

In New York City, an ex-soap opera actress Julia (Mila Kunis) is trying to clear her name after being accused of almost killing her son, now in the custody of his father Rick (James Franco). In Rome, an American businessman named Sean (Adrien Brody) is inadvertently is smitten by a fiery Italian woman named Monica (Moran Atlas), and gets involved in something he didn’t expect. All three scenarios clash as the passion and stakes rise.

“Third Person” continues its limited release in Chicago on June 27th. Featuring Liam Neeson, Mila Kunis, Adrien Brody, Maria Bello, Kim Basinger, James Franco and Olivia Wilde. Written and directed by Paul Haggis. Rated “R”

StarContinue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Third Person”

Olivia Wilde, Liam Neeson
I Love Paris? Anna (Olivia Wilde) and Michael (Liam Neeson) in ‘Third Person’
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Classics

StarContinue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Third Person”

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