Review- The Shape of Things

Neil Labute is the man.  There is no way around that.  I see a lot of feedback on various sites criticizing Labute for his directing work on films like the remake of The Wicker Man, and Death at a Funeral and those criticisms are fair.  He really hasn't directed anything of much merit since this gem.  But I still find it amazing how quickly people can forget about a director's back-catalogue once they start releasing flops.  Let's not forget that this is the man who also gave us In The Company of Men, and Your Friends and Neighbors.  This film, as well as those last two, is a study in the human potential for evil.  Not in the classic, serial-killing, bloodfest sort of way, but in how we interact with each other.

The Shape of Things was originally a stage play so it comes across as such.  There are only four characters and the story is rooted firmly in the dialogue between said characters.  Adam (Paul Rudd) is a regular, if homely college student working his way through school.  One day at his museum job he meets Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) in a classic boy-meets-girl type of way- or so we think.  It isn't long before the two strike up a conversation regarding the nature of art and its subjectivity (as we learn that Evelyn is pursuing a master's degree in art).  The two hit it off and enter a romantic relationship.  But the real fun begins when we meet the pair of friends whom Adam has known since his freshman year, Phillip (Frederick Weller) and Jenny (Gretchen Mol).  The pair are engaged and go on a series of double dates with Adam and Evelyn until, in a hilarious scene featuring all four actors, an argument ensues over the defacement of a statue in the museum Adam works at (which we learn earlier was the work of Evelyn).  In this scene we are also told, in a brilliantly subtle series of jests that Adam and Jenny had a "thing" a few years back, but it never really came to fruition.  As we proceed the film sees Jenny and Adam cheating on their respective mates as Adam begins to grow more attractive with significant coaxing from Evelyn.  At her request Adam has lost weight, changed his hairstyle, switched from glasses to contacts and even gotten a nose job.  When Evelyn discovers Adam's acts of infidelity via a journal of his progress he has been keeping, yet another argument ensues in a coffee shop between Adam, Evelyn and Jenny.  This brings us to Evelyn's big thesis presentation.  I will stop here for the purposes of maintaining the true draw of the film/play.  But suffice it to say this quickly becomes more than your run-of-the-mill romantic comedy.  And if you have seen Labute's early works it will come as no surprise that the conclusion of The Shape of Things will leave you with a reaction.

What I have left out here will be the deciding factor in whether or not you enjoy this movie, or any of Labute's stage-to-screen works, really.  He is a very polarizing director and even moreover, a polarizing writer.  The Shape of Things is meant to be discussed.  And given the nature of the ending, not talking about it seems highly unlikely to this reviewer, so I would recommend seeing it with a friend.  The performances delivered here are all wonderful, but the reason you haven't seen much talk of them is that the acting is so secondary to the story.  Overall, The Shape of Things is an astounding achievement in drama, both on stage (I have just had the privilege of seeing it mounted here in Des Moines) and on screen.  See it.  Talk about it.  Judge for yourself if art is really as "subjective" as we claim it is.

Rating- 10/10