It's been about eight years since Polish director, Pawel Pawlikowski, first introduced many of us(like me) to the amazingly talented Emily Blunt with his stirring relationship drama, My Summer of Love. It's a little bit like Heavenly Creatures, a little bit Me Without You, so if you dig movies about the way two women can be best friends yet horrible for each other, then check it out. Actually, all three of those movies are worth seeing. Anyway, Pawlikowski has been off the radar since then, but now he's back with a new thriller starring Ethan Hawke.
The Woman in the Fifth has Hawke in Paris(check) playing an American writer(double check), who hooks up with a mysterious woman(triple check). I know, it sounds like 90% of the Ethan Hawke movies out there, but this one is definitely a little different. Hawke is a father who moves to Paris to be closer to his daughter and estranged ex-wife. With no money, he accepts a job as a night guard for a crime boss(!!!), and life seems pretty slow and boring until he enters into a relationship with a secretive, elegant widow, played by Kristin Scott Thomas. Soon after, the people in his life who wrong him begin dropping like bricks, and he becomes the target of a murder investigation.
Buzz on this film has been absolute zero, strange considering the talent involved. The trailer looks solid, and Pawlikowski's visual touch is still present, but that's really about it. Hawke always seems to be going through the motions, and that's more present than ever when opposite Thomas, who remains as sexy and vibrant as ever. Otherwise this looks like a fairly generic potboiler. The Woman in the Fifth will hit theaters on June 15th....
