The Shape of Things

Cinema and theatre intertwine in this intriguing drama about change, manipulation and art. Rudd’s acting is great and his transformation from shy loser to the Paul Russ we all know today comes about convincingly and naturally. Oh, and Rachel Weisz... is simply amazing. Her approach would probably change me, too. (04.11.2009)

A look at the development of two relationships and, mainly, the “right" to art. To modern art, how far you can go, what is still art etc. Despite this interesting hint of a story, there are things here that needless bring the movie down. Mainly the actors. While both female roles are played surely and excellently, the male roles are at best unbalanced. Especially Adam’s friend (Fred Weller) is incredibly awful. The sort of amateur performance that belongs in a soap opera, if anywhere. Also, the screenplay is not completely balanced in places. There are scenes where there is too many superfluous dialogs, while they could have been good even without them. But despite all that, the last ten minutes make up for the rest. (28.02.2005)

It's a great shame for anyone who reads the comments here or even just the distributor's text and thus misses out on the surprising point at the end, but I don't think I've ever been so disgusted by a film's plot-twist dot. It saddens me that the creators felt it necessary to shake up such a gripping relationship drama and condemn any further viewing to the realm of utopia. (12.05.2006)