Right from the start there's a wink in Alan Rudolph's dry comedy of sad characters. This film, touted for its Oscar-nominated performance by Julie Christie, is a solid entry for fans of Rudolph's Choose Me and Love at Large. First we meet the amorous Mr. Fix-it, aptly named Lucky Mann (Nick Nolte). Lucky is a big teddy bear who finds joy in construction and womanizing. Nearly every sentence is a smooth entendre or a typical Rudolph witticism. This arrangement seems to be fine with his longtime wife Phyllis (Christie), an ex-B-movie actress who acts as if much of her life is still a bad movie. Lucky's latest client is a young housewife (Lara Flynn Boyle) who also has a muddle of a marriage: Marianne swoons for Lucky's attention, because her husband, Jeffrey (Jonny Lee Miller), has energy for his high-rise business career but little else. Soon Jeffrey espies sad and stunning Phyllis and is on the prowl, unaware that she is Lucky's wife.
Many filmmakers have made statements about the rarity of monogamy but Rudolph is one of the few who finds so much strength in fooling around. He has deep, long answers to why his characters are the way there are, and this leads to scenes that actors relish, even if they don't ring true. Certainly Christie has not had a part this juicy in years, and Nolte, warm and energetic, simply shines. Miller, usually the young ruffian in films such as Trainspotting, gives an intriguing slant to a stuffed shirt. Rudolph has never reached the complexity nor the mastery of his mentor Robert Altman, but he has created his own niche: the comedy of characters usually found in urban dramas. There are laughs in this movie that you simply won't find in the typical Hollywood comedy. Like Altman, he proves that being an independent voice is not about the methods of filmmaking, it's about talent. --Doug Thomas
(20 votes)
2.
Director-screenwriter Alan Rudolph once again teams with producer Robert Altman (THE PLAYER) for this haunting, funny film starring Nick Nolte and Julie Christie as a married American couple living in Montreal haunted by the memory of their runaway daughter. Plumber Lucky (Nolte) starts an affair with beautiful young client Marianne (Lara Flynn Boyle), who's desperate to have a baby and stifled by her marriage to her narcissistic husband, Jeffrey (Jonny Lee Miller). Meanwhile, Lucky’s wife, former B-movie actress Phyllis (Christie), spends her time looking for their daughter on the streets of Montreal and watching videotapes of her old movies. When she inadvertently finds herself meeting Jeffrey and agreeing to spend the weekend with him, the stage is set for an inevitable showdown among all concerned.
This beautifully photographed and brilliantly written film is marked by a stunning, Oscar-nominated performance by Christie, who masterfully combines sexuality, class, and world-weary pain. Nolte is also top-notch, again proving himself one of America's most formidable actors. AFTERGLOW is that rare combination in movies: sexy, funny, intelligent, tragic, and deeply moving.
(19 votes)
3.
Winner - Best Actress Julie Christie
Nick Nolte, Julie Christie, Lara Flynn Boyle and Trainspotting's Johnny Lee Miller star in director Alan Rudolph's wry romance about a handyman who wreak havoc and builds romance in two marriages.
Desperate to have a baby, Marianne hires Lucky Mann to remodel a nursery. There's just one problem: Marianne's not pregnant and her husband isn't interested in sex. So what's a handyman do?
Intimate, intelligent, reckless and romantic, "you'll delight in this one and you'll leave in an Afterglow of pleasure!" - Gene Shalit, Today, NBC-TV
(17 votes)
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