The Leading Man is a fairly obscure film from the late 90s that benefits from a very good cast and an unusual screenplay by Victoria Duigan, sister of the director John Duigan. It's set in the world of the theatre, with a charismatic and egotistical American actor called Robin Grange (played by Jon Bon Jovi, who is pretty good in the part) cast as leading man. The play is written by Felix Webb (Lambert Wilson) who is having an affair with young Hilary Rule (Thandiwe Newton), whom he manages to get cast in a key part.
Felix's wife Elena (Anna Galiena) is aware of the relationship - which certainly isn't as well-kept a secret as Felix believes - and at first it seems like her menacing response (she cuts Felix's hair while he is sleeping) is going to be the focus of the plot. But things take a different turn when Robin offers to do Felix a favour by seducing Elena. One oddity of the storyline is the way that Elena's personality seems to chance once Robin takes an interest in her. I'm not sure this is psychologically convincing, but who knows?
Some of the pleasure of the film comes from the performances of the actors in the play. They include such stalwarts as David Warner, Harriet Walter, Patricia Hodge, and Diana Quick. There's even a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo from Nicole Kidman. I was intrigued by the set-up of the story and couldn't guess how the tangle of relationships would work out - though it was pretty clear that a gun, featured as prominently as Chekhov's, would be relevant to what happened.
Unfortunately, the climax of the film is its weakest part. Possibly Victoria Duigan herself couldn't quite decide how to end the story. The finale that she chose has a low-key irony, but I felt it was a little disappointing. Overall, however, there are enough good moments and enough good actors in this film to make it worth watching.
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