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A Single Man [DVD]

1 disc
Region 1 USA/CA (info)

George Falconer (Colin Firth) feels lost. Not only is he still grieving the death of his longtime companion, Jim (Matthew Goode), but he's also a Brit teaching English at a California college. He's so distraught with heartbreak that he's decided to kill himself, and proceeds to get all his affairs in order while carrying on with what otherwise would be a normal day. He gives an unusually forceful lecture to his class, revealing enough that a perceptive student, Kenny (Nicholas Hoult), senses something is wrong with the professor; collects his important financial papers from his bank; buys bullets for a handgun he owns; and makes a visit to his best friend (Julianne Moore). But throughout these methodical preparations, George keeps running into people -- a colleague's daughter, a attractive gay hustler, and the sympathetic Kenny -- who offer him glimpses of why he should stay alive. A SINGLE MAN is the directorial debut of legendary fashion designer Tom Ford.
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Credits

Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Goode, Jon Kortajarena
Critic Reviews

"[Firth] gives a tender and memorable performance....A pre-liberation romantic reverie that insists that love is love, period."
Entertainment Weekly
4 stars out of 5 -- "Fashion designer Tom Ford establishes himself as a filmmaker to celebrate from the very first sequence of his artfully constructed, heartfelt adaptation of Christopher Isherwood's 1964 novel A SINGLE MAN."
Box Office
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "Ford is a true visionary, but it's his humanity that gives the love story a ravishing, bruised grandeur."
Rolling Stone
3 stars out of 4 -- "Designer Tom Ford's directorial debut is an aesthetic wonder....The visuals are gorgeous, and the melancholy mood is exquisitely evoked."
USA Today
"Moore is absolutely buoyant. A luscious lush, she oozes mod sophistication..."
Los Angeles Times
"[Mr. Firth delivers a] delicately shaded performance....Certainly, the director knows how to exploit his actor's reserve to terrific effect..."
New York Times
3 stars out of 4 -- "Firth plays George superbly, as a man who prepares a face to meet the faces that he meets. He betrays very little emotion..."
Chicago Sun-Times
Included in Los Angeles Times's "Best Films Of 2009" -- "[A] movie of mesmerizing beauty..."
Los Angeles Times
"[A] movie of quiet but potent emotional power....The movie takes on the momentum and narrative tension of a thriller..."
Washington Post
"[T]his impeccably glamorous period piece is just about the most dazzling visual experience of the year."
Movieline
4 stars out of 5 -- "On the strength of this debut, Ford has impressive potential as a filmmaker....He's managed to guide Colin Firth to his finest onscreen performance yet."
Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]his is impeccably composed, astonishingly self-assured debut filmmaking. A SINGLE MAN is patently a labour of love, and you can feel Ford's commitment to the content in every frame."
Empire
"It lets Colin Firth, who is superb as the numb, grieving hero, transmit a subtle range of experiences..."
Sight and Sound
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "A smart, stylish, and intimate film....Firth excels as the understated grieving protagonist..."
Premiere