Butler's Cinema Scene

Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Isaac, Kristen Dunst

“THE TWO FACES OF JANUARY”  My rating: B- (Opens Oct. 31 at the Tivoli)

96 minutes | MPAA rating: PG-13

In a cinema world filled with Bourne-ish violence and spectacular chases, there’s something quietly satisfying to be found in the work of Patricia Highsmith.  Her novels — especially those centering on the vaguely sinister Tom Ripley — were about character and motivation, not overt violence.

“The Two Faces of January” — the directing debut of acclaimed screenwriter Hossein Amini (“The Wings of the Dove,” “Drive,” “47 Ronin”) — is a minor work but a solid one, a tale of corruption and escape set against the spectacular Greek countryside.

It’s 1962 and the American couple, Chester and Collette (Viggo Mortensen, Kristen Dunst) are enjoying the pleasures of Athens.  He’s a money manager, the much younger Collette is rather obviously a trophy wife.

They hook up with another American, the young Rydal (Oscar Isaac, late of the Coen’s “Inside Llewyn Davis”), an American “poet” who sells his services as a tour guide. And because he speaks fluent Greek and can conspire with local merchants and vendors, Rydal is usually able to double-charge his clients for a bit of extra profit.

Oscar Isaac

Wealthy, arrogant and convinced that he’s the smartest guy in the room, Chester suspects that Rydal has designs on Collette.  But before that situation can develop, their vacation is interrupted by the arrival of a private eye from the States.  The man has been sent by investors Chester has swindled. In the ensuing struggle the P.I. is accidentally killed.

Chester and Colette take flight, bringing along the unsuspecting Rydal, whose knowledge of Greece they believe will be key to their escape.

Since the couple have left their passports behind at the Athens hotel, Rydal must use his underworld connects to purchase replacements. The three take a ferry to Crete, then travel by bus and by foot, avoiding the police who are now looking for them — an effort made more difficult by Chester’s growing proclivity for heavy drinking.

And through it all, of course, there’s that sexual tension.

“The Two Faces of January” (a cryptic title I don’t quite understand) has a fair degree of suspense, but mostly it serves as an acting duel between Mortensen and Isaac, who play a game of psychological oneupmanship with the desireable Collette as the potential prize.

The film is old-fashioned in the best way, and Amini has drawn solid performances from his players while providing a scenic mini-tour of Greece.

| Robert W. Butler