The Two Faces of January

I'd expect nothing less from the writer of Drive for his directorial debut. Hossein Amini is a master at adapting novels and if you can adapt James Sallis' existentialist Drive, you can adapt anything.

Rydal (Oscar Isaac) is a young American conman working as a tour guide in 1960s Greece. He takes around rich college girls whilst overcharging them for everything. One day he comes across the MacFarlands, Chester (Viggo Mortensen) and Colette (Kirsten Dunst), a mysterious wealthy couple from America. He is drawn to both of them and soon becomes embroiled in their dangerous past.

Based on the 1964 novel by Patricia Highsmith (who is known for writing The Talented Mr Ripley), Amini has constructed an intensely suspenseful adventure that very reminiscent of suspense films of the 1960s, not unlike those by Alfred Hitchcock. There were many times where I did in fact hold my breath at the outcome at many of the situations.

Isaac has proven himself once again in this film. His character Rydal is naive enough but not entirely unknowing of how things will turn out. Rydal's backstory is present, but because of the nature of him being a conman it is hard to know whether or not he is telling the truth about his past.

Both Mortensen and Dunst play perfectly off each other. Their chemistry is evident at the beginning and as the film goes on you believe that the strain in their relationship is genuine. Isaac also works well with both of them. The subtle hints of romance between Colette and Rydal are believable and Chester's strange surrogacy as father to Rydal is quite telling.

Verdict: An intensely suspenseful and gripping adventure through Greece. Amazing performances from all three actors.