George Falconer (Colin Firth) is a middle-aged Englishman who teaches literature in a college in Los Angeles. The year is 1962 and Americans are mired in a stew of fear about the Cuban Missile crisis and the threat of nuclear war. But George is not thinking about that. He has been deeply unhinged by the death of his longtime partner, Jim (Matthew Goode), in an automobile accident. They had been together for 16 years and yet Jim's family have made it clear that they don't want George at the funeral. Overwhelmed by loss, George has a hard time getting up. He has to convince himself to get dressed, put on his mask (hiding his true self), and face the world.
Despite the fact that he considers himself part of a misunderstood minority, this literate college professor isn't very good at hiding his feelings or moods. Nearly everyone he comes across on this day comments on how terrible he looks. With a stiff upper lip, George drags himself to the bank to get his papers out of his safety deposit box. Then he goes to the store to purchase bullets for the gun he plans to use to end his life.
A Single Man is a thoughtful, nuanced, and memorable film directed by Tom Ford who has adapted it for the screen from a 1964 novel of the same title by Christopher Isherwood. In a statement for the press, the director has said of the story:
"It is a deeply spiritual story, of one day in the life of a man who cannot see his future. It is a universal tale of coming to terms with the isolation we all feel, and of the importance of living in the present and understanding that the small things in life are really the big things in life."
Colin Firth puts in a tour de force performance as a world-weary scholar who is hobbled by grief and trying to muster the courage to carry on. During the course of the day, three others reach out to him, suggesting some possibilities: the weird little girl who lives next door to George and feels a connection with him; Charley (Julianne Moore), a fellow Brit and close friend who drinks too much, feels sorry for herself, and laments that they were never able to fashion an intimate love relationship; and Kenny (Nicholas Hunt), a handsome, intuitive, and philosophical loner from George's literature class who is convinced that he is an ideal soul mate for his teacher.
To his credit, George is able to spot moments of exquisite beauty in a blonde woman's smile, in a slow dance with Charley, and in the seductive mystery of a hustler (Jon Kortajarena). As he looks at his world on what he thinks will be his last day, he discovers many small moments of pleasure and meaning. He reminds us of Taoists and Zen Buddhists who have a fine-tuned appreciation of the small and can find the universe in the flow of water around a rock or in a simple tea cup.
Special features on the DVD include a commentary by director Tom Ford and a featurette "The Making of A Single Man.
