THE FILM:

Director Paul Haggis has struggled to repeat the success he had with ensemble drama Crash, which won the Academy Award for the best picture of 2005. His latest film, Third Person, is another multi-story, character-driven drama in which the lives of the players intersect and converge. Each of the three storylines deals with the loss of a child, and Haggis continues to favor deeply emotional drama to comedy-laced romantic farce. The director has been criticized for allowing shallow characters to carry overwrought drama to unnecessary conclusions, and Haggis has again made a film not quite as clever as it wants to be. The stories are sometimes compelling, thanks in no small part to the stacked cast, but the conclusion is less revelatory than convenient. At 137 minutes, Third Person is exhausting, another Haggis-as-director quibble, and struggles to remain afloat under its own pretense.

The interspersed stories in Third Person are as follows: Writer Michael (Liam Neeson) struggles to repeat the success of earlier works while juggling unstable mistress Anna (Wilde) and estranged wife Elaine (Kim Basinger). American businessman Scott (Adrian Brody) travels to Italy, where he meets a Gypsy woman, Monika (Moran Atias), whose daughter is being held for ransom by a Russian mobster. New York housekeeper Julia (Mila Kunis) struggles to regain custody of her son after being accused of trying to kill the child, and lawyer Theresa (Maria Bello) fights in court against the boy's frustrated father (James Franco).

To Haggis' credit, he recruited a stellar cast and managed to get them all on the project without one single actor trying to steal the show. If I had to pick the three leads, it would be Neeson, Kunis and Brody, as they anchor each story. Even so, the supporting players are often more interesting. I like the Italian storyline best, particularly the work from beautiful Atias. There is more humor and emotion in this arc than in the others combined. Wilde's Anna is fascinating and commands attention in the way that a six-car pileup on the interstate encourages rubber-neckers. She is brutally honest and often hateful to Michael, and I am not sure what to make of the film's ultimate reveal about her damaged psyche. I also enjoyed Loan Chabanol, who plays James Franco's new girlfriend that observes the Kunis/Franco custody battle with concern and compassion.

Each storyline is somewhat interesting in its own right, but their juxtaposition is where the problems begin. The shared plot points are not as revelatory as Haggis, who also wrote the screenplay, might have wished, and some of the overlap seems like an afterthought. The two hours plus of talky exposition might have been warranted had the film done a better job wrapping things up. The ending is not great. I do not want to spoil the reveal, but it is one of those conclusions that only makes sense because the movie says it does, not because the audience was provided clues throughout the narrative.

Haggis might be a better writer than director (see Casino Royale and Million Dollar Baby), and a filmmaker more concerned with efficiency and pacing might have slimmed this material down to something more effective. All the acting in the world does not save a bloated narrative, and though Third Person is not a failure, it could be much, much better. This only received a semi-wide release in a few hundred theaters and does not look poised to gain a huge audience at home. I think it's worth renting, and I hope Haggis' next outing behind the camera will be more successful.

THE BLU-RAY:

PICTURE:

The 2.35:1/1080p/AVC-encoded image from Sony Pictures looks expectedly fantastic. Detail is impeccable, in both close-ups and wide shots. The digital source maintains solid texture throughout, and lacks the soft, smooth appearance of some digital productions. Black levels are excellent, as are skin tones. Colors are bold and nicely saturated, and I noticed no problems with banding, compression artifacts or digital noise.

SOUND:

The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix balances dialogue, score and effects with ease. The surrounds and subwoofer provide support for the score and relatively infrequent action effects. Environmental noise surrounds the viewer, and the mix's range is very good. Quiet scenes are as impressive as the Kunis/Franco blowout. English, English SDH and Spanish subtitles are included.

EXTRAS:

The Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Paul Haggis, Production Designer Laurence Bennett, Editor Jo Francis, Producer Michael Nozik, and Actor Moran Atias is chatty but never overwhelming, and provides insight into some of the film's less obvious connections. There is also a lengthy Q&A with Paul Haggis (33:29/HD); the EPK-style The Making of Third Person (9:49/HD); and the film's Theatrical Trailer (2:12/HD).

FINAL THOUGHTS:

The cast and filmmaking pedigree is spot-on, but Third Person is a bit of a mess. Director Paul Haggis struggles to integrate his multi-story narrative into a cohesive whole, and Third Person fights to overcome some of its more obvious themes and character drama. A tighter, more focused version of this project might have been more successful. Rent It.

William lives in Burlington, North Carolina, and looks forward to a Friday-afternoon matinee.