Irresistible (2006)
As the world turns just a little quicker at the moment for Emily Blunt, taking on no less than the greatest Queen to have ever lived in The Young Victoria, I thought it would be a good time to look at one of her earlier efforts. In this film, Irresistible, filmed only a couple of months before her turn in The Devil Wears Prada, Blunt plays Mara, a young woman who appears to know exactly what she wants.
Unable to secure a cinematic release and heading straight to DVD, this thriller was shot entirely in Melbourne, financed in part by Film Finance Australia and distributed by First Look International.
Written and Directed by Ann Turner, It tells the story of Sophie (Susan Sarandon), a lauded artist of children’s books, wife and mother of two delightful, practically perfect children. She has a beautiful home, a job she loves and a husband (Sam Neill) she is still magically in love with after ten years of marriage. All seems just about perfect. A good time then, for someone to come along a ruin it for her.
It all begins with an iron. Sophie thinks she has left it on after going out to pick up her children from school. Running home, she returns to find out that she must have imagined it, as there is the iron, sitting with the wire neatly coiled around it. Except that when she touched the iron, it is still hot, meaning it could only have been recently unplugged.
So begins a chain of events that begin to unhinge Sophie. These events could be chance, but they could also be deliberate. There are some things that happen near the beginning of the film that has the viewer in only one mind about what the eventual outcome will be, but as the plot moves forward, at a well-conceived pace, it becomes apparent that your opinion may not be as founded as you might at first believe.
The acting on all parts is more than up to scratch, with all of the main players giving credible, rounded performances. Sarandon excels particularly as a woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown that is not of her own making. Blunt is the perfect foil for her, with her own admirable femme fatale. Neill also, as incredulous husband at first and then philandering non-supporter.
As I say, the plot moves on at a suitable pace, and the story twists and turns on a number of occasions, keeping you interested until the end of the movie, which is admirable for all concerned.
Coming in at just over ninety minutes, it is neither too short or too long and at no point do you feel that it is rushed or laboured. An interesting hour and a half that will not set the world alight, and an odd pick for Blunt, though seeing her career from this point, she does seem to choose some eclectic roles. Perfectly acceptable, if not a classic.