Adrian Lyne

After watching the Richard Gere movie Unfaithful the other day, I looked up details of the director Adrian Lyne. His name rang a bell, and I soon realised why – his CV includes a number of highly successful movies, including the ultra-memorable Fatal Attraction.

It turns out that his other achievements include Flashdance, and directing the music video of a song from the soundtrack, ‘Maniac’, which I’ve always liked (it’s performed in suitably manic style by Michael Sembello in the film.)

Unfaithful is a good film, which has earned much critical acclaim. And although I called it a ‘Richard Gere movie’, in truth the show belongs to Diane Lane, who earned an Oscar nomination for her performance as Gere’s wife. Lane also starred in Untraceable, which I covered on this blog a while back. She is a fine performer, and also very lovely.

Lovely enough, in the film, to be seduced by a glamorous Frenchman. Their torrid affair is conducted so carelessly that it’s no surprise when Gere gets to hear rumours of it. He hires a private detective to follow Lane, and a series of calamities ensue. The film does, at times, move excruciatingly slowly, but it’s very well-made. Lyne is a genuinely accomplished director.