大象传媒

A melancholy trawl through rich folks' miseries, Forty Shades Of Blue makes its title sound like an underestimate. The characters slouch from one sad state to another in this Memphis-set melodrama, eventually dragging the viewer down with them. Ageing music producer Alan James (Rip Torn) is estranged from both his Russian lover Laura (Dina Korzun) and adult son Michael (Darren Burrows). Old git... trophy girlfriend... angry young man... you don't need a map to see where this one's going.

A predictable love triangle plot isn't the only problem. Ira Sachs' naturalistic, fly-on-the-wall direction is understated to a fault. It goes hand in hand with a sketchy screenplay (co-authored with Michael Rohatyn), that's as short on backstory as it is on much-needed humour. The net result is a film that needs to work a lot harder to make you invest in the pampered lives it dwells on.

The saving grace is the acting. Offsetting the creeping torpor, Torn lets rip in his larger-than-life role as a boozy, tantrum-prone legend of the 60s soul scene. Meanwhile, Korzun (best known for 2000's Last Resort) subtly brings out the fragility and discontent that lie beneath her glacial, Garbo-like beauty.

"SHORT ON BACKSTORY AND MUCH-NEEDED HUMOUR"

Slightly less effective is Burrows as the resentful son returning home for the first time in years to see dad honoured at an awards bash. Despite being the catalyst for some forbidden, quasi-incestuous romance (carried on behind his pregnant missus' back, to boot), his muted performance chimes all too well with the prevailing mood: all simmer, no boil.