The Two Faces Of January

The Two Faces of January, which is based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith.

Chester MacFarland (Viggo Mortensen) and his wife Colette (Kirsten Dunst) are touring the sights of Athens when we first meet them. They appear to be a normal-ish couple, affluent and with a largish age gap between them but seemingly happy together.

They meet an American tour guide called Rydal (Oscar Isaac), who makes most of his money scamming tourists. Rydal sticks with them, thinking he’s found another rich and easy target. Along with the fact he clearly likes the look of Colette and hopes there might be some fringe benefits in that direction as well.

Rydal quickly finds out that he just a small time crook compared to Chester. Who is mixed up in something far dodgier and more lucrative. When someone comes calling to get their money back, they wind up dead and the MacFarlands suddenly end up trying to flee the country.

Now lured by prospect of even more money and of Colette of course, Rydal decides to help them. He knows someone who can get them new passports and get them out of Greece. 

It’s a promising setup with three promising characters. Rydal doesn’t trust Chester and Chester certainly doesn’t trust Rydal. We get treachery upon treachery and double-double-dealing but the interplay between them just doesn’t quite stack up. The relationship between Colette and Rydal is undeveloped and in the end the plot resolution is far from convincing. Still the acting is good and the film moderately engaging. Not bad.