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Enduring Love (2004)

Average rating

(52%)

Starring:	Daniel Craig \| Samantha Morton \| Rhys Ifans \| Alexandra Aitken \| Susan Lynch \| Bill Nighy
Director:	Roger Michell
Studio:	PATHE DISTRIBUTION
Run time:	100 mins
Genres:	Audio Descriptive \| Drama
Languages:	English, English Audio Description
Hearing-impaired:	English
Released:	April 11, 2005

Two strangers become dangerously close after witnessing a deadly accident.

Screenshots

Rating of 2 stars out of 5

A bizarre accident links two strangers in director Roger Michell's illogical and annoying metaphysical thriller tritely adapted from Ian McEwan's novel. After attempting to halt a runaway hot-air balloon, which results in a man falling to his death, Daniel Craig is mercilessly stalked by fellow would-be rescuer Rhys Ifans, who believes himself in love with Craig. Wilfully obscure (no one ever goes to the police) and with many questions left unanswered (is Ifans a Jesus freak, gay psychopath or a figment of the imagination?), this becomes increasingly unfocused once past the arresting opening, and miserably fails to illuminate the central themes — the impact of random events on life and the various forms of love, illustrated by the double meaning of the title. This corrosive and bitter tale is bolstered by expert performances from Craig and Ifans, but it just isn't enough.

Rating of 2 stars out of 5
Halliwell's Film Guide

Creepy tale of an odd love triangle, in which an outsider's obsession causes a couple's relationship to disintegrate through guilt and the odd chance that has thrown them together. Michell directs this study of the unpredictability of love with understand

Highest rated reviews

34 out of 43 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 5.0 stars
Haunting

Stevieb47 from from Surbiton, 29th May, 2005

A fine version of Ian Mcewan's novel about a singular event that blights all the lives of those involved in it......its a hot Summer's day and Joe(Daniel Craig) and Claire(Samantha Morton) are picknicking in a field....Joe is just about to open a bottle of champaigne(with the intention of Popping the Question) when a hot air balloon crashes into the field throwing a man out of the basket but leaving his grandson inside.Various people try and rescue the boy and at first all seems well but a sudden gust of wind lifts the balloon with all the men still clinging to it.Most of them drop off whilst it is still safe but one clings on until its too late and falls to his death.Joe organises the others and along with Jed(Ryhs Ifans)discover the grisly result of the mans fatal fall - Jed suggests they pray together but Joe isn't that way inclined but gives in after Jed pleads with him. Returning to his life as a colleage lecturer in London Joe is still haunted by the fact that if they hadn't all dropped off they might have saved the situation - his doubts are increased when he discovers that the boy managed to get the balloon under control and landed safely - the man who died(a Doctor it turns out) had died in vain.His peace of mind is further disturbed when Jed rings him up and suggests they meet - Jed seems to feel a need to get Joe to admit something that at first Joe doesn't grasp then denies......at first Joe feels sorry for Jed (after all they were both traumatised by the incident) but as Jed keeps popping up again and again and becoming more insistent that the experience has created a bond between them Joe becomes increasingly paranoid.Jed seems to think that the episode was Gods way of bringing them together and Joe has been giving him subliminal signals of acceptance of this. This puts an unbearable strain of his relationship with Claire and others begin to doubt his sanity as the episode and Jed's constant reminders undermine Joe self-belief to a dangerous amount. How it works out I will leave but its very well acted by the whole cast(Craig is exellent in the tortured role and Morton again proves she one of the finest actresses around - its the subtle facial expressions that she uses to say far more than any dialogue)and Ifans has the hardest role in that Jed is a relgious mono-maniac and clearly mad but he avoids the usual frothing at the mouth stuff. The only dissapointment is that it does go down the bunny boiler route which is a little too conventional and there is a moment at the end where Jed's motives seem to change that wasn't in the book and is a little too obvious - that apart its a very fine film. It has a haunting feel that both Joe and Claire need to move on but Joe just can't break free of tragedy that fell out of a blue Summer sky on a day that should have been perfect.....and the consequences of which undo all he has worked to believe in. Highly reccomeded

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33 out of 37 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 2.0 stars
Way overrated

jezfernandez from , 23rd May, 2005

I read a few reviews that RAVED about this incredible opening sequence with a balloon. Seriously - it's not that good! The rest of it is bog-standard stuff, and you kind of feel sorry for Joe (Daniel Craig) who is clearly undergoing major post-traumatic stress and lumbered with a rather unsympathetic girlfriend. Add in Rhys Ifans as a twitchy, melodramatic obsessive and you start to lose the thread. Some interesting themes are never really developed (e.g. the widow's fear of her late husband's infidelity). Not nearly as engaging or clever as it thinks it is.

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Most recent reviews

*** May contain spoilers ***

Rated 2.0 stars
over-egged

lesliejung from , 7th February, 2010

...what i mean is that everyone was acting so furiously and the director was directing so transparently, i was not enaged - too distracted by all the fancy business going on. in some ways this reflects on the coldness i always experience reading the author of the novel this film is based on. characters' interiors are sort of theatrically presented as a construct and that is awfully distancing. so i did not care - the final moment is unconvincing. it's the story of a chance encounter at the scene of a traumatic event - and this triggers a sociopathic reaction - one man loves and stalks the other. already overwrought the daniel craig character is doubly hit - once by tragic event and then by stalker. it unsettles his relationships and world - great supporing cast esp Bill Nighy and the stalker himself, the welshman also in NottingHill. in the end the tedium of watching it unfold, all painful thought and contrivance just made it a failure for me.

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