Afterglow (1997)

74% of critics liked it
(31 reviews)
38% of users liked it
(1,425 ratings)

Director Alan Rudolph offers a typically idiosyncratic look at a relationship approaching the point of collapse. Phyllis Mann (Julie Christie) and her husband Lucky (Nick Nolte) are a married couple living in Montreal whose marriage has slowly skidded to a halt. There's still a glimmer of affection… More Director Alan Rudolph offers a typically idiosyncratic look at a relationship approaching the point of collapse. Phyllis Mann (Julie Christie) and her husband Lucky (Nick Nolte) are a married couple living in Montreal whose marriage has slowly skidded to a halt. There's still a glimmer of affection left between the two, but very little love and no passion. Phyllis, a one-time horror film star, spends her days alone, often lost in her memories as she watches her old films on television, while Lucky works as a repairman and builder, often engaging in brief liaisons with the women he's working for. Phyllis is aware of Lucky's infidelity but isn't terribly concerned; she doesn't mind if he goes elsewhere for sex, as long as he's not looking for anything more serious. The fragile link between Phyllis and Lucky begins to crack when Lucky is hired by Maxine Byron (Lara Flynn Boyle) to help convert a room in her home into a nursery. Maxine desperately wants children, but her arrogant yuppie husband Jeffrey (Jonny Lee Miller) has no interest in starting a family, so she hopes that Lucky might be willing to help her. As coincidence would have it, Phyllis is starting to feel as if she needs someone new in her life, and she begins an affair with Jeffrey. Julie Christie's performance as Phyllis earned the actress her third Oscar nomination for Best Actress. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 59 min.
Directed By: Alan Rudolph
Written By: Alan Rudolph
Genres: Drama, Romance, Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Dec 26, 1997 Wide
On DVD: Oct 14, 2003

Critic Reviews

Emanuel Levy, Variety
The still strkingly beautiful Julie Christie renders such as glowing performance that she alone justifies viewing this incurable, frivolous romantic serio-comedy in which she plays B-Movie actress!
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
How mysterious and intriguing some performances can be.
Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
Alan Rudolph's romantic roundelay sounds a lot more interesting than it plays.
Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Christie is a revelation, a lilting, charming schemer ... She alone is reason enough to see this flawed and haunting film.
Judith Egerton, Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)
Will turn off viewers before they arrive at scenes in the final third of this movie that make the previous, tedious parts forgivable.
Frank Ochieng, Movie Eye
Afterglow plants a cynical seed in its provocative examination of isolation, arbitrary emotional fulfillment, and marital stagnation. Christie dutifully fills the shoes of a wounded woman so convincingly

Read all 6 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Bruce B

Afterglow This movie is another from a long list of movies that played at the 1997 Tronto Internatinal Film Festival. Not one of the best from that list, but still worth watching. This movie was filmed in Montreal Canada and Nick Nolte is a handyman who is fixing more then minor… More
Afterglow This movie is another from a long list of movies that played at the 1997 Tronto Internatinal Film Festival. Not one of the best from that list, but still worth watching. This movie was filmed in Montreal Canada and Nick Nolte is a handyman who is fixing more then minor repairs in his travels. His wife ( Julie Christie) is a burned out actress who had a child by another actor while married to Nick, of course one day during an arrugment she brings up the fact that the child who is now 15 is not his, major mistake child hears runs away and so is the story line of our film. Nick is not giving it up to his unfaithful wife in 3-4 years but is screwing all his clients.Of course one client falls in love with him. All in all its not that trashy and has its moments but I can only give it 3 stars
jay n

Julie Christie is radiant as the wronged wife easily outshining the rest of cast. It's a pity she doesn't work more but it makes each time she does something special.
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]In "Afterglow", Jeffrey Byron(Jonny Lee Miller) is a young executive who enjoys taking breaks walking on the ledge of his building. His wife, Marianne(Lara Flynn Boyle), is ovulating and desperately wants to get pregnant but Jeffrey is not obliging.… More
[font=Century Gothic]In "Afterglow", Jeffrey Byron(Jonny Lee Miller) is a young executive who enjoys taking breaks walking on the ledge of his building. His wife, Marianne(Lara Flynn Boyle), is ovulating and desperately wants to get pregnant but Jeffrey is not obliging. Luckily, she still needs some work done on her home which requires a handyman, Lucky(Nick Nolte), who was recommended to her. Aside from repairing homes, Lucky also seems to be having sex with most of the housewives in the greater Montreal area, with the exception of his own wife, Phyllis(Julie Christie), a former B-movie actress.(Apparently, they have an open marriage under which Lucky can have sex with other women, just as long as he sleeps in his own bed.)[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Afterglow" is a very uneven movie about consequences and how women are taken for granted in our society. But there is little real drama to speak of and the extraneous subplots do not help. Luckily, writer-director Alan Rudolph's horrible comedic instincts do not come into play. Nick Nolte has rakish charm to spare and Julie Christie does an excellent job in deftly avoiding playing a caricature. Lara Flynn Boyle starts out at awful but gets better as the movie goes on. Jonny Lee Miller simply comes off as flat.[/font]
Leo L

A favorite.

Cast

Julie Christie
as Phillis Mann
Nick Nolte
as Lucky (Fix-It) Mann
Lara Flynn Boyle
as Marianne Byron

See full cast

Afterglow (1997)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Bruce B

jay n

Walter M

Leo L

Cast