Berlinale 2014 Review: THE TWO FACES OF JANUARY Proves Middlebrow Is Timeless

Isaac stars as Rydal, a late twenties American expat earning his way as tour guide and two-bit con man in 1960s Athens. Rydal's a soulful writer type, hustling visiting tourists for lunch money and writing poetry on the side. When he spots the visiting MacFarlands at the Parthenon, he's sure to have landed two easy marks. It's a crime thriller-- he hasn't. 

Viggo Mortensen plays Chester MacFarland, and Kirsten Dunst his wife Colette. We'll later find out those aren't their real names. Yup, it seems poor Rydal had the rotten luck to stumble upon two far bigger swindlers than he. Mortensen's Chester is a hard drinking cynic whose easy charm belies an ocean of deceit. As Colette, Dunst is given a lot less to play, though she does what she can and does so with charm. The wheels are set in motion when shady banker Chester accidentally kills a debt collector, sent to collect the money Chester illicit gains. Rydal has the bad luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and ends up on the lam with the other two, hightailing it to Crete to hide-out.  

What follows is a love triangle. What follows are plot twists and shocking reversals and conniving schemes all predictable as can be. I don't say that as a criticism, mind you. The Two Faces of January, the first directorial outing from screenwriter Hossein Amini (Drive) and an adaption a Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley) thriller, is a film you enjoy as you would a roast chicken, or a hamburger with fries and a Coke. Its pleasures come not in the surprises on hand, but in the comforting way it recreates something we know so, so well. 

Which isn't to say the film is without faults. Dunst's character is woefully underwritten, and the film's finale, set in the busy streets of Istanbul, comes a little too easy, a little too pat. As the first time film of a longtime writer, it is unsurprisingly lacking in visual flair. But in the end, none of that matters. Like its con-men heroes, the film coasts by perfectly amiably on confidence and style. Mortensen's movie star charisma, Dunst's megawatt pout, the power-plays in Greek sun -- they're more than enough. 

The Two Faces of January is a film for Sunday afternoons, for noncommittal viewing with grandparents and aunts. It seems made to exist in perpetuity, to be forever rerun on cable TV. The screening let out only a couple hours ago as I write this, and I've probably already forgotten half of it. All you can really say is, "well, it doesn't reinvent the wheel." And no, it does not. But as long as those wheels keep turning as smoothly as they do here, they'll make for a very pleasant ride.