Forty Shades of Blue (2004)

61% of critics liked it
(51 reviews)
45% of users liked it
(1,294 ratings)

A woman who has drifted away from her boyfriend's affections finds love in the arms of his son in this independent drama. Laura (Dina Korzun) is an attractive woman in her early thirties who was living in her native Russia when she met Alan James (Rip Torn), a legendary music producer from Memphis.… More A woman who has drifted away from her boyfriend's affections finds love in the arms of his son in this independent drama. Laura (Dina Korzun) is an attractive woman in her early thirties who was living in her native Russia when she met Alan James (Rip Torn), a legendary music producer from Memphis. Alan brought Laura back to the United States and moved in with her, but now that the couple have a three-year-old son, Laura finds herself a stranger in the city she now calls home and is growing increasingly distant from the philandering Alan. After a testimonial tribute to Alan, Laura meets his grown son Michael (Darren E. Burrows) for the first time; Michael has a difficult and sometimes combative relationship with Alan and prefers to keep a distance from him and his life, but Michael and Laura find they quickly develop a strong rapport. Laura and Michael's friendship soon grows into an affair, but as Laura considers her unhappiness with Alan, she also feels guilty about betraying a man who has given her a life she would hardly have dared to dream of when she was younger. Forty Shades of Blue was helmed by Ira Sachs (who earned enthusiastic reviews for his 1997 debut feature The Delta), from a script he co-wrote with Michael Rohatyn. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 47 min.
Directed By: Ira Sachs
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Sep 28, 2005 Wide
On DVD: May 16, 2006
Studio: First Look

Critic Reviews

Richard Nilsen, Arizona Republic
It contains some very good performances and some finely observed writing.
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star
... both emotionally captivating and elusive ...
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
Subtle and morose to a fault, in the end it's just Junebug, another Sundance downer, without the heart.
Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News
Ira Sachs' story of hereditary malaise, passed from father to son, will disappoint anyone looking for a propulsive narrative or slam-bang excitement. But it will amply reward patient viewers who prefer a slow burn.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
[Torn's] acting so well he not only creates this character, but makes him into an object lesson.
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Forty Shades of Blue hits you like a shot of moonshine whiskey. Right in the gut, with a buzz that just keeps going.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Aspires to tell us something revealing about compromised souls.
Dan Callahan, Slant Magazine
Forty Shades of Blue is wonderfully unconventional, truthful and touching.
Anton Bitel, Film4
The 13 minutes of deleted scenes would, if restored, add little to the film's overall coherence - but the same might be said of many of the scenes that made the final cut.
Anton Bitel, Film4
This plodding mood-piece is as emotionally engaging as a paint catalogue.
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
...a sporadically well-acted curiosity.
Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
Impressively directed, low-key drama that really gets under your skin, thanks to strong performances from its three leads.
Keith Uhlich, Slant Magazine
Get it [Forty Shades of Blue] while you can.
Brian Gibson, Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)
Korzun . . . is a non-presence, a brittle facade . . . a sketchy screenplay [adds up to] Zero Depths of Feeling . . . a flat, tasteless, faux-Euromance.
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher
A gorgeously grim portrait of regrets and lost opportunities, Ira Sach's tender and heartbreaking drama is supremely subtle in how it emotionally flays its characters to lay bare their unspoken anguish...

Read all 15 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Jim H

A cantankerous music star's son visits for an awards ceremony then has an affair with his father's young wife. The highlight of this film is Dina Korzun's morose and oftentimes inscrutable performance; the few moments when her vulnerability shows through - crying in bed… More
A cantankerous music star's son visits for an awards ceremony then has an affair with his father's young wife. The highlight of this film is Dina Korzun's morose and oftentimes inscrutable performance; the few moments when her vulnerability shows through - crying in bed after having sex with her husband as an example - are captivating. The film's success, aside from her performance, is the mere creation of a mood, a consistent melancholy that becomes overbearing at times. Indeed, I thought the film was often too morose, too languid. And Rip Torn's character - not necessarily a fault to his performance - was inconsistent. For the first half of the film, he is an indomitable and harsh force, but he suddenly becomes human in the second act, and what once was reminiscent of James Coburn in <i>Affliction</i> turns into a gnarly mess of storytelling. And it can shove its freeze-frame ending up its ass. Overall, <i>Forty Shades of Blue</i> is a performance-driven art film that has damning inconsistencies.
Daniel P

Fabulous little indie film that concentrates on the kind of character who you usually only glimpse and then forget about in most films: in this case a Russian lover to a much older American man. The performances from Dina Korzun, Rip Torn and Darren Burrows are all Oscar worthy, and… More
Fabulous little indie film that concentrates on the kind of character who you usually only glimpse and then forget about in most films: in this case a Russian lover to a much older American man. The performances from Dina Korzun, Rip Torn and Darren Burrows are all Oscar worthy, and the film won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. The photography is superb too - this is well worth a look and I can't wait for Ira Sachs next film...

Cast

            Rip Torn as Alan James

            Dina Korzun as Laura

            Darren E. Burrows as Michael James

            Paprika Steen as Lonni

            Red West as Duigan

            Jenny O'Hara as Celia

            Andrew Henderson as Sam James

            Liz Morton as Cindy

            Joanne Pankow as Aunt Betty

            Arielle Kight as Teenage Singer

            J. Blackfoot as J. Blackfoot

            Jerry Chipman as Shel

            Mary Jean McAdams as Gena

            Charly Kayle as Karin

            J. Alan Scott as Press Photographer

            Earl Randle as Old Timer

            Charles Skip Pitts as Charles Skip Pitts

            Don Pirl as Man at Peabody Bar

            Stuart Greer as Tom Skolnick

            Jennifer LaCapra as Woman With Tom

            Lillie White as Minnie

            Mimmye Goode as Nursery School Parent

            Forest Pruett as Studio Engineer

            Todd Malta as Waiter

            Charles Ingram as Ronnie

            John Boyd West as Barry

            Howard Keltner as Salesman

            Claude Phillips as Tennis Club Valet

            Emily McKenna Cox as April

            Stan Prachniak as Lake Party Bartender

            Archie Mitchell as Lake Party Reveller

            Steve Potts as Banquet Musician

            David Smith as Banquet Musician

            Ronnie Williams as Banquet Musician

            Michael Toles as Banquet Musician

            Jim Spake as Banquet Musician

            Scott Thompson as Banquet Musician

            Jim Dickinson as Lake Party Musician

            Sid Selvidge as Lake Party Musician

            Sam Shoup as Lake Party Musician

            Tommy Burroughs as Lake Party Musician
See full cast