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Film: Third Person
Cast: Mila Kunis, Adrian Brody, Olivia Wilde, James Franco, Moran Atias, Maria Bello, Kim Basinger, Olivia Crouch, Vinicio Marachioni.
Director: Paul Haggis
Running time: 130 minutes
Type of film: Intrigue in Italy
Age restriction: 16
Cinema: Eastgate
Reviewed by Joel White

Time was and it’s not that long ago when American films were made in Europe virtually the entire cast was made up of American actors who had been shipped over there to play all the parts. Economy of venue was the principal motive.

The superb film Third Person is a welcome blending of the two sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Made perfectively logical with the vastly increasing number of Americans who reside permanently in Europe.

Liam Neeson, born in Northern Ireland in 1952, and unforgettable for his roles in such films as Excalibur, The Mission, and The Innocent, in the 1980’s, is, in this film, an author living in Italy.

Viewers of this film, made in almost its entirely in Rome, will have the extensive opportunity to feel that they are actually walking and moving about on the streets of that most vital European tourist attraction.

His marriage has long since dissolved but not yet legally broken with his wife residing in America; a telephone call away. Understandably a major cause of distress to the current local lady in his life.

It is and has been a cause for criticism frequently seen in American films made in Europe that the plot ultimately calls for the coming together of the various Americans who are in fact living entirely separate lives.

This can be understood even excused when it is realised that almost 90 percent of an American film’s earnings result from American audiences.
One such situation arises when Nick (the actor Adrian Brody) finds himself temporarily out on his own and crosses paths with a local woman who has become deeply indebted to a local crew of gangsters.

Some critics might complain that this entire portion of the film has been dragged in from left field (as Americans say, using the baseball term), but I found it both revealing and fascinating. The film is very highly recommended.