Will (Jude Law) is an architect, married to a Swede, Liv (Robin Wright-Penn), who has a daughter,Bea from a previous marriage. Bea has some sort of mental disorder, and Liv seems depressed about it. Will is a loving family man but feels that there is still something missing from his home life. At work, he tries to construct a new building, at an undesirable area of London, called King's Cross. His building is burglarized by some young acrobatic teenagers so Will ends up staking out his construction site hoping to catch the perpetrators. While he does this from inside his car, a prostitute approaches him and Will becomes a client of hers.
Like any other couples, Will and Liv have their fights and make up, so Will agreeing to a hooker, and yet trying to spice up his marriage, did not connect with this viewer. Even more surprising is he begins an affair with the mother of the teenage burglar. Amira (played by Juliette Binoche, doing a very good Bosnian accent), is a Muslim immigrant and seamstress who meets Will by chance at his step-daughter's gym practice. Will asks Amira for some tailoring to be done for him then begins an affair with her. When Amira's son Mero (Rafi Gavron) finds out Will has been to his place, he confesses to Amira what he has done. Amira and a friend then take pictures of her in bed with Will in hopes she can discredit Will from harming her son. Amira's loving protection of her son is the most plausible element of this movie.
This is really a story about Will trying to find a broken link in his marriage to Liv and her daughter. Will and Liv, like their daughter, is upset then calm, then upset, then calm. Their relationships lacked any consistency so that Will having affairs is incomprehensible. Maybe Will's character could have been more fully developed, as well as Wright-Penn's Liv, so we can get a clue as to why Will does what he does. While, watching Will start these affairs, I was reminded by what some girlfriends have told me, "men are scum". Yet Will is really a decent guy. I enjoyed the pacing of this movie, and the cat and mouse game at King's Cross (really that's what makes most of this movie interesting) and I liked watching the young acrobats jump from building to building (better than Spider-Man, they're human). But what it lacks is thorough credibility. It's an engaging movie that could have used a little more livening up.
Like any other couples, Will and Liv have their fights and make up, so Will agreeing to a hooker, and yet trying to spice up his marriage, did not connect with this viewer. Even more surprising is he begins an affair with the mother of the teenage burglar. Amira (played by Juliette Binoche, doing a very good Bosnian accent), is a Muslim immigrant and seamstress who meets Will by chance at his step-daughter's gym practice. Will asks Amira for some tailoring to be done for him then begins an affair with her. When Amira's son Mero (Rafi Gavron) finds out Will has been to his place, he confesses to Amira what he has done. Amira and a friend then take pictures of her in bed with Will in hopes she can discredit Will from harming her son. Amira's loving protection of her son is the most plausible element of this movie.
This is really a story about Will trying to find a broken link in his marriage to Liv and her daughter. Will and Liv, like their daughter, is upset then calm, then upset, then calm. Their relationships lacked any consistency so that Will having affairs is incomprehensible. Maybe Will's character could have been more fully developed, as well as Wright-Penn's Liv, so we can get a clue as to why Will does what he does. While, watching Will start these affairs, I was reminded by what some girlfriends have told me, "men are scum". Yet Will is really a decent guy. I enjoyed the pacing of this movie, and the cat and mouse game at King's Cross (really that's what makes most of this movie interesting) and I liked watching the young acrobats jump from building to building (better than Spider-Man, they're human). But what it lacks is thorough credibility. It's an engaging movie that could have used a little more livening up.