Title: Third Person
Written & Directed by: Paul Haggis
Available on Digital HD: 9 March
Coming to DVD: 23 March
Run time: 131 minutes
Rated: 15
Third Person is a collection of multi-strand stories of love, relationships and betrayal, featuring an award winning ensemble cast including Liam Neeson (Schindler’s List), Adrien Brody (The Pianist), James Franco (127 Hours) Olivia Wilde (Rush), Mila Kunis (Black Swan), Kim Basinger (L.A. Confidential) Maria Bello (A History of Violence) and Moran Atias (The Next Three Days).
Three couples, in three different cities - Paris, Rome and New York, appear to have nothing in common, but as with this type of ensemble film we know that there will be plots strands that connect them more deeply than we expect.
In Paris we meet Liam Neeson who plays a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. He’s recently left his wife played by Kim Basinger and is now having a passionate fling with an ambitious young journalist played by Olivia Wilde.
In Rome we meet Adrian Brody who plays a businessman of questionable repute who is about to meet a mysterious woman played by Moran Atias
And in New York we meet Mario Bello who plays a lawyer who is helping a young mother played by Mila Kunis in her efforts to win a custody battle with her famous ex-husband played by James Franco.
Third Person is well directed by the very efficient and capable Paul Haggis. The performances are all very good from a cast of A list actors and the storylines are compelling and nicely devised.
Third Person is a film that despite a very starry cast and a top director seems to have arrived onto the home entertainment market of digital and DVD with very little fanfare. I certainly don’t remember seeing it advertised at the cinema. Of course, every now and then, a low-budgeted film, written and directed by an auteur attracts some of the finest acting talent around who take on the role because they believe in the material. They make their big pay cheques in blockbusters and then enjoy appearing in smaller, more cerebral work. Third Person is one of those films and consequently it is recommended watching.
