Nocturnal Animals (Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon) – The book upon which this film is based is titled Tony and Susan, which would be a better name for a movie than Nocturnal Animals, I think. This suspenseful thriller with a haunting, foreboding feeling features exceptional performances from three excellent actors, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Adams plays Susan Morrow, a rich, unhappy Los Angeles art gallery owner. Her morose eyes give away her unhappy marriage and her unfulfilling career. She sacrificed her first marriage for the dilettante’s life. One day, she receives a manuscript from her ex-husband, Edward (Gyllenhaal). It is an advance copy of a book he wrote that is about to be published called Nocturnal Animals, a characterization he used for her. As her current cheating husband embarks on a trip to New York, she settles down to read the book, triggering intense emotions and imagining her ex-husband as the protagonist, Tony Hastings.
Director/writer Tom Ford (A Single Man) deftly alternates Susan’s story with the plot of the book, drawing analogies with the story of the Hastings, whose lives are tragically altered on a lonely road in West Texas. The latter story has a No Country for Old Men feel complete with a lawman right out of a graphic novel, Bobby Andes, played by the amazing Michael Shannon, who plays creepy better than anyone.
Ford makes sure the viewer is never relaxed. For example, we know that the pivotal segment that unfolds on that Texas road will not end well for the Hastings. This is painful for them and for us. But Ford makes sure that we are far less certain about what happens to Susan’s life. Will she end up with her husband or might she reunite with her ex? Will she turn out like her socialite mother (Laura Linney in a cameo), who she detests?
Nocturnal Animals keeps you engaged every minute, and how many movies can you say that about?