Some Velvet Morning (2013)

Some Velvet Morning: Directed by Neil LaBute. With Stanley Tucci, Alice Eve. A man surprises his former mistress by claiming to have left his wife. However, before long, a dark history between the two comes into focus.

“Neil LaButeu0026#39;s work has always been raw in tone, frequently offensive, yet never lacking in punch.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSOME VELVET MORNING proves no exception to this rule. Set in a split-level apartment in a big city, is concerns an apparently unstable relationship between middle-aged lawyer Fred (Stanley Tucci), and his twentysomething former mistress Velvet (Alice Eve). Fred claims to have left his wife and returned to Velvet after a four-year absence, while Velvet apparently resents his unexpected appearance in her apartment.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMost of the filmu0026#39;s eighty-two minute running-time is devoted to a roller-coaster depiction of the charactersu0026#39; relationship as it veers from protestations of love, false demonstrations of passion, and the more obvious depicting of male power based on strength. In the final reel there is an unexpected denouement that calls into question the entire basis on which the plot has been constructed. Some might consider it artificial; others a too-obvious elaboration of the filmu0026#39;s basic theme.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn terms of style, SOME VELVET MORNING has much of the rawness of David Mametu0026#39;s OLEANNA (1994), another two-hander based on the clash between a man and woman of varying ages, combined with the destructive potential of Mike Nicholsu0026#39;s WHOu0026#39;S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF (1966), wherein the main characters tear emotional lumps out of each other in pursuit of emotional as well as physical mastery.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs director, LaBute refuses to let his characters out of sight of his penetrating camera. We feel uncomfortably close to them, especially Fred as he tries to ingratiate himself once again into Velvetu0026#39;s emotions. Yet there is a sense in which the film glorifies as well as condemns male power; Tucci portrays Fred as the initiator of most of the conversations he conducts with Velvet. Until he achieves his desired aim, he will never give up.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn truth the plot begins to pall as it unfolds, as we wonder why Fred is so insistent on achieving his desired aim. Is it part of his own feeling of insecurity; that he is an emotional wreck with a pathological inability to articulate his emotions? As Velvet, Eve tends to be too much of a foil to him; in Beckettian fashion she tells us she is going out but never actually takes any positive action.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt might be said that SOME VELVET MORNING gives an uncompromising portrait of modern relationships. In truth it actually reveals the bile at the heart of the writer/ directoru0026#39;s consciousness, which manifests itself in a consciously sexist piece of work.”