The Shape of Things Movie Review:


Neil LaBute's "The Shape of Things" is a brilliantly woven tale of interpersonal human influence and perception. LaBute is a writer/director that has looked into the realms of human conflict, sexism and relational values with his previous works like "In the Company of Men" and "Your Friends & Neighbors". He then took a break away from his usual material and made last summer's romantic "Possession". With "The Shape of Things," LaBute is back in control of his usual methodologies, and this piece is by far his best to date.

Adam (Rudd) is an overweight lonely college student that doesn't have any confidence in himself until he starts dating Evelyn (Weisz). She is a very intellectual art graduate student that opens Adam's eyes to who he is and what he can become. Over the first few months of their relationship, Adam loses 30 pounds, gets contacts and does other things to enhance his appearance as well as his self-esteem. Philip (Weller), Adam's egotistical best friend, and his beautiful fiancée Jenny (Mol) begin to take notice of Adam's drastic change due to Evelyn's implementations. A suppressive conflict develops between the characters and their final relational outcomes are ones that nobody would expect.

The title of the film "The Shape of Things" is a reference to many areas and interactions on the story. It is really hard to detail aspects and areas of this film, because I feel that I will serve up too many spoilers of the film's outcome. "The Shape of Things" was actually first a play by LaBute that premiered in London two years ago. The script is a gem full of tight dialogue. The character's actions are ones that you should expect from a writer like LaBute, and he constantly builds the study of relationships and interactions, then he throws a wrench into the gears of the machine. With his previous work, I thought that LaBute was over the top with areas of his craft. "Your Friends & Neighbors" had too much shock value and "Nurse Betty" was more violent than it needed to be. "The Shape of Things" is still disturbing and cruel at times, but it is balanced and actually more believable. The story is sort of a like a dark-modern day Pygmalion with LaBute's style splashed over it. The hidden irony and symbolism are also very intriguing, and an ample amount of the symbolism comes forth in the film's last two scenes.

It is evident with the actor's blocking and delivery that the story was first a play. LaBute also kept the same acting cast from his stage version. Paul Rudd sports a fat suit in the first moments of the film, but then makes a total transformation into the new and improved Adam. Rudd is courageous and effective as Paul. Rachel Weisz delivers the best performance of her career as the artistic Evelyn. Weisz has come across as an upcoming actress that didn't take too many risks with her characters choices. This is no longer the case; as Evelyn is a dynamic character that isn't an easy person to portray, but Weisz makes it seem simple. The film's other actress, Gretchen Mol, also turns a very solid performance as the sweet Jenny. Frederick Weller is nearly perfect as the self-centered Phillip, who wears his sunglasses on his head in doors. The cast as an .ensemble is excellent and I think it was very smart for LaBute to cast the same actors that previously worked on the stage version.

There are so many subjective elements in "The Shape of Things" that I would like to discuss, but if I do so then I will ruin the film for you. This is one of those little "great" indie films that look into the realm of human relationships by perception and influence. Though the film is harsh and some of the material might not be for all audience members, it is very well written, directed and acted. The conclusion of the film is striking depending on which way that you react to it.

Grade: A-

Joseph Tucker

Using his original cast, LaBute adapts his own play for the big screen ... but leaves it far too stagy and theatrical. Adam (Rudd) is a nebbish, pudgy guard in a museum who meets the free-spirited art student Evelyn (Weisz) just as she's getting ready to vandalise a statue in protest of the corruption of true art. The two make an unlikely couple, but begin a rather sweet courtship, watched sceptically by Adam's friends Philip and Jenny (Weller and Mol), who are engaged to be married in an underwater ceremony. After only a few weeks, Evelyn has worked a remarkable transformation on Adam, who's now thinner, stylish, more confident and even considering plastic surgery on his nose. But she's not going to stop there, and soon both Philip and Jenny are swept up in her storm.

The film's problems have nothing to do with the fact that there are only four characters. That actually adds to the tone and focuses the story finely on LaBute's complex examination of art and cruelty, manipulation and free will, the obsession with surfaces and how relationships are rarely what we think they are. Sadly, the film never overcomes its stage roots; the cast is awkwardly directed to unnatural performances that are too big for an unforgiving cinema camera. All four are capable actors who add side touches that make the characters interesting, but the dialog is just far too intense for a film like this--it feels talky and overwhelmingly pretentious as it circles around waiting to pounce on something. This isn't to say it's uninteresting or pointless; LaBute is examining important themes that are rarely if ever touched on in such a straightforward and provocative way. But all of this careful construction leaves the characters as mere puppets, both self-aware and deeply clueless ... but only because this is how LaBute wants them to be. His final plot point is ingenious and telling, and yet it hits us without any resonance because the characters are so unsympathetic. There's probably a great film to be made from this play, but someone else should take a stab at it.

Rich Cline

Written as an answer to the furore surrounding his debut feature film In the Company of Men, The Shape of Things is another biting commentary on the continuing battle of the sexes by controversial director Neil LaBute.

Geeky, overweight college student Adam (Paul Rudd) can’t believe his luck when sexy art student Evelyn (Rachel Weiz) agrees to go out with him. Neither can his friends Jenny (Gretchen Mol) and Philip (Frederick Welller) who are left gob-smacked by Adam’s transformation into the campus hunk as his svenagli-esque girlfriend goes to extreme lengths to change her man.

The Shape of Things started life as a play and it shows. The film never manages to escape its theatrical origins and remains quite stagy even on the big screen. The characters (all from the original cast) deliver their lines with polished professionalism and the script remains dialogue heavy leaving little room for a sense of naturalism that it could otherwise have been afforded.
The Shape of Things carries the director’s trademark fascination with the workings of contemporary relationships focusing particularly on its scope for cruelty and humiliation. It is well-acted throughout and LaBute pulls off a knowing trump card but its emotional impact is greatly reduced by the narcissistic characters and the film’s persistent cynicism.

LaBute calls this “the ultimate date movie” and his contemporary re-working of My Fair Lady will certainly will fill in any embarrassing lulls in the conversation – just expect arguments on the way out.

Ann Lee

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