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Intersection
Paramount // R // February 19, 2002
List Price: $24.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
Intersection is a good movie that suffers from what I'd call "bad marketing syndrome." The cover art implies that the film is some sort of psychological thriller; the back-cover copy makes it sound like it's a run-of-the-mill drama. Neither impression of Intersection would be correct: in fact, it's an engaging, thoughtful story of complicated relationships.
From the very beginning, Intersection has an unusual and compelling narrative structure. Vincent Eastman (Richard Gere) is driving along, on his way to meet someone... we think; at least, he's holding a letter that's addressed to a woman. A flashback takes us suddenly to an intimate scene in his memory; if this is who he's going to meet, it's no surprise that he's smiling. Then the story hurtles on to a crucial moment... and then flashes back once again, this time continuing inside the flashback moment while the "present" moment of the story is held in abeyance. Yet the importance of that initial framing scene looms over the entire film; as we watch Intersection, the question is what led up to that moment, as well as what will happen afterwards.
The plot development of Intersection is unusual from its opening all the way to the conclusion, which of course I won't reveal in this review. It frustrates the anticipations of the viewers at various times during the course of the film; I use "frustrate" here in a positive sense, because this characteristic of the story has the effect of increasing its dramatic tension. In some films, you know more or less what's going to happen to the protagonists, and the only question is exactly how it's going to happen. But if you don't actually know what's going to happen, as you don't in Intersection, the events of the story feel much more real, and so you're much more engaged with the experience of finding it out.
Intersection's storyline is interesting not just in its structure, with its series of nested flashbacks, but also in the way that it doesn't follow the predictable path of "relationship drama." Rather than setting up an obstacle for the characters which they then spend the film attempting to resolve, the storyline of Intersection sets up a series of difficulties for the characters that arise not from outside events, but from their own personalities, insecurities, and weaknesses. Obviously, for a film like this to work properly, it's necessary for the actors to do a reasonably good job of bringing their characters to life, and while there aren't any Academy Award caliber performances here, all the actors do a solid job. Richard Gere tends to play more or less the same kind of character in all his films, but here he turns in a better than average performance. It's essential for the film that Vincent (check name) be convincingly torn between two lives, and Gere manages to pull it off. Sharon Stone and Lolita Davidovich also turn in creditable performances, bringing nuance and depth to the characters of the cold estranged wife and the exuberant lover.
The best part of Intersection is that by the end of the film, you genuinely care about what happens to these people. Vincent is at the center of a three-way struggle, with his wife, his lover, and his daughter all competing for his undivided attention... and all three points of this relationship triangle have been developed equally, so that there's no "good choice" and no "bad choice," only human choices that we as viewers may or may not agree with. In fact, the theme of Intersection may be hard to take for some viewers to take, if they're looking for a clear-cut resolution or a traditional happy ending. Vincent's choices are difficult; his inability to make those choices in itself makes life more painful for him and those he loves; and both he and the viewer realize that some situations just don't have an easy resolution.
Video
Paramount's transfer of Intersection is creditable, giving us an anamorphic widescreen image with the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The image isn't perfect; there's some grain evident in the picture, and the colors seem a little on the muted side, though the latter is likely due at least in part to the artistic choices in the original print. Nonetheless, it's a nice-looking transfer overall, with edge enhancement hardly to be seen, good contrast, and a clean print.
Audio
Intersection's Dolby 5.1 track is a little lacking. It's generally clear, with clean-sounding dialogue, but there's not really much use of surround at all. In other words, it's better than average, but it could just as easily have been a 2.0 as a 5.1 soundtrack.
Extras
Well, Paramount isn't noted for the quantity of special features on its DVDs, and Intersection is no exception. There aren't any extras on the disc. At least the menus are easy to navigate.
Final thoughts
The packaging of Intersection makes it look like it's going to be a slightly cheesy thriller, but that's very far from the truth. It's an interesting, complicated drama that takes a look at human relationships and the choices that we have to make in life. I'd definitely recommend picking it up.
From the very beginning, Intersection has an unusual and compelling narrative structure. Vincent Eastman (Richard Gere) is driving along, on his way to meet someone... we think; at least, he's holding a letter that's addressed to a woman. A flashback takes us suddenly to an intimate scene in his memory; if this is who he's going to meet, it's no surprise that he's smiling. Then the story hurtles on to a crucial moment... and then flashes back once again, this time continuing inside the flashback moment while the "present" moment of the story is held in abeyance. Yet the importance of that initial framing scene looms over the entire film; as we watch Intersection, the question is what led up to that moment, as well as what will happen afterwards.
The plot development of Intersection is unusual from its opening all the way to the conclusion, which of course I won't reveal in this review. It frustrates the anticipations of the viewers at various times during the course of the film; I use "frustrate" here in a positive sense, because this characteristic of the story has the effect of increasing its dramatic tension. In some films, you know more or less what's going to happen to the protagonists, and the only question is exactly how it's going to happen. But if you don't actually know what's going to happen, as you don't in Intersection, the events of the story feel much more real, and so you're much more engaged with the experience of finding it out.
Intersection's storyline is interesting not just in its structure, with its series of nested flashbacks, but also in the way that it doesn't follow the predictable path of "relationship drama." Rather than setting up an obstacle for the characters which they then spend the film attempting to resolve, the storyline of Intersection sets up a series of difficulties for the characters that arise not from outside events, but from their own personalities, insecurities, and weaknesses. Obviously, for a film like this to work properly, it's necessary for the actors to do a reasonably good job of bringing their characters to life, and while there aren't any Academy Award caliber performances here, all the actors do a solid job. Richard Gere tends to play more or less the same kind of character in all his films, but here he turns in a better than average performance. It's essential for the film that Vincent (check name) be convincingly torn between two lives, and Gere manages to pull it off. Sharon Stone and Lolita Davidovich also turn in creditable performances, bringing nuance and depth to the characters of the cold estranged wife and the exuberant lover.
The best part of Intersection is that by the end of the film, you genuinely care about what happens to these people. Vincent is at the center of a three-way struggle, with his wife, his lover, and his daughter all competing for his undivided attention... and all three points of this relationship triangle have been developed equally, so that there's no "good choice" and no "bad choice," only human choices that we as viewers may or may not agree with. In fact, the theme of Intersection may be hard to take for some viewers to take, if they're looking for a clear-cut resolution or a traditional happy ending. Vincent's choices are difficult; his inability to make those choices in itself makes life more painful for him and those he loves; and both he and the viewer realize that some situations just don't have an easy resolution.
Video
Paramount's transfer of Intersection is creditable, giving us an anamorphic widescreen image with the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The image isn't perfect; there's some grain evident in the picture, and the colors seem a little on the muted side, though the latter is likely due at least in part to the artistic choices in the original print. Nonetheless, it's a nice-looking transfer overall, with edge enhancement hardly to be seen, good contrast, and a clean print.
Audio
Intersection's Dolby 5.1 track is a little lacking. It's generally clear, with clean-sounding dialogue, but there's not really much use of surround at all. In other words, it's better than average, but it could just as easily have been a 2.0 as a 5.1 soundtrack.
Extras
Well, Paramount isn't noted for the quantity of special features on its DVDs, and Intersection is no exception. There aren't any extras on the disc. At least the menus are easy to navigate.
Final thoughts
The packaging of Intersection makes it look like it's going to be a slightly cheesy thriller, but that's very far from the truth. It's an interesting, complicated drama that takes a look at human relationships and the choices that we have to make in life. I'd definitely recommend picking it up.
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