I think I counted 4 actors, 3 female, one male, who display full frontal nudity in this film, all of whom have attractive bodies, and two more who display partial nudity, and all 6 are shown engaging in explicit sexual acts, some quite graphic. Yet it is all quite unerotic. How can a film that has explicit sex, excellent acting, a well written script, good editing, and beautiful yet bleak photography be so excruciatingly boring? The film's running time is about 1 hour and 40 minutes, yet it seemed longer than Ben Hur. It truly proceeds at a snail's pace and is best saved for viewing on one of those nights when you can't sleep, because it is an ideal cure for insomnia.
One problem is that, with the exception of the Emily Mortimer character, none of the characters is really likable. Tilda Swinton plays a shrewish yet sexually frustrated barge wife who is totally obtuse as to the true nature of the man she took as a lover; does she really think this rootless sociopath is going to settle down in a house in the suburbs? Her cuckolded husband, although basically a decent man who engages sympathy at times, is basically a dolt who finds little else to interest him other than drinking beer and playing darts at the local pub. Swinton's sister is a treacherous and alcoholic nymphomaniac, and Macgregor's new landlady, who appears late in the film, is a treacherous non-alcoholic (as far as we can tell) nymphomaniac.
All of which leads us to the lead character, played by Ewan Macgregor. In fact, this character tipped me off as to what the main problem with this film is: it is an anachronism. This film, minus the explicit sex, could, and perhaps should, have been made between 1955 and 1965. The Macgregor character is totally in tune with the "angry young men" of that era who used to be played by Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay, Alan Bates, Lawrence Harvey, and the like. In that era, ruthless male machismo bordering on sociopathy, which included treating women like objects and degrading them sexually, might have been in vogue or at least tolerated, but this character seems woefully out of synch with modern sensibilities. In other words, the character is a total s**t. But who knows? Maybe some people enjoy watching films about people like that, but this viewer doesn't.
So, the only reason to see this film is for the nudity. Otherwise, skip it.
One problem is that, with the exception of the Emily Mortimer character, none of the characters is really likable. Tilda Swinton plays a shrewish yet sexually frustrated barge wife who is totally obtuse as to the true nature of the man she took as a lover; does she really think this rootless sociopath is going to settle down in a house in the suburbs? Her cuckolded husband, although basically a decent man who engages sympathy at times, is basically a dolt who finds little else to interest him other than drinking beer and playing darts at the local pub. Swinton's sister is a treacherous and alcoholic nymphomaniac, and Macgregor's new landlady, who appears late in the film, is a treacherous non-alcoholic (as far as we can tell) nymphomaniac.
All of which leads us to the lead character, played by Ewan Macgregor. In fact, this character tipped me off as to what the main problem with this film is: it is an anachronism. This film, minus the explicit sex, could, and perhaps should, have been made between 1955 and 1965. The Macgregor character is totally in tune with the "angry young men" of that era who used to be played by Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay, Alan Bates, Lawrence Harvey, and the like. In that era, ruthless male machismo bordering on sociopathy, which included treating women like objects and degrading them sexually, might have been in vogue or at least tolerated, but this character seems woefully out of synch with modern sensibilities. In other words, the character is a total s**t. But who knows? Maybe some people enjoy watching films about people like that, but this viewer doesn't.
So, the only reason to see this film is for the nudity. Otherwise, skip it.