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'The Two Faces of January': The noir movie has an unsettling plot

( PG-13 ) ( Monitor Movie Guide )

Director Hossein Amini understands dread is a dish best served slow.

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Courtesy Magnolia Pictures
Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Isaac and Kirsten Dunst in 'The Two Faces of January,' a Magnolia Pictures release.
  • By Peter Rainer Film critic

When it comes to movie adaptations of her books, the late mystery master Patricia Highsmith was singularly fortunate: 鈥淪trangers on a Train,鈥� 鈥淧urple Noon,鈥� 鈥淎n American Friend,鈥� and 鈥淭he Talented Mr. Ripley,鈥� to name only the most famous.聽

The latest success story is 鈥淭he Two Faces of January,鈥� from her 1964 novel, which opens in Athens and stars Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst as a shady married couple, and Oscar Isaac (so good in 鈥淚nside Llewyn Davis鈥�) as an American expatriate con man who bilks tourists. This trio comes together in typically unsettling Highsmithian fashion, and somehow the scorching Grecian sunlight only intensifies the noirishness of it all. Hossein Amini, who wrote the screenplays for 鈥淭he Wings of the Dove鈥� and 鈥淒rive,鈥� makes his directorial debut, and he understands that dread is a dish best served slow. Grade: B+ (Rated PG-13 for some violence, language, and smoking.)

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