The Square: Harshly Funny Film Noir

Middle-aged man meets femme fatale, disaster ensues
By Emily Rauhala,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 9, 2010 9:31 AM CDT
The Square : Harshly Funny Film Noir
This is film noir, Aussie style.   (screen grab)

In this Aussie noir thriller, a married middle-aged man (David Roberts) and his younger lover (Claire van der Boom) seize the chance to escape with a bundle of cash. The finely wrought fallout involves an arsonist, a shark attack, and depravity and greed to spare. Most critics agree: it's sinfully good:

  • The New York Times calls The Square "a tour of moral squalor." It is "suspenseful, invigorating and sometimes harshly funny," writes A.O Scott.
  • The Square takes the conventions of film noir — "femme fatale, shady goons, best-laid plans spiraling out of control"—and gives them enough to make the film fell "almost fresh," writes Stephen Garret in Time Out.

  • "As one might expect from stuntman-turned-director Nash Edgerton, the action is well staged," writes Michael Ordona for the Los Angeles Times. But, he says, he doesn't buy the leads: "There angles don't quite meet in the key relationship."
  • "It's the kind of movie that features a spectacular car crash, only to reveal, by quiet crying from the wreckage, that a baby was inside" writes the AP's Jake Coyle.
(Read more the square movie review stories.)

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