Shape Of Things [DVD] [2003]

Set at a picture postcard Californian college, the movie is all about what happens with the naïve clashes with the conniving. Adam (the sensational Paul Rudd) is a dumpy, dorky English student, who becomes an inexplicable object of affection for Evelyn (Rachel Weisz), a sophisticated, beautiful and highly opinionated MFA candidate hard at work on her master's thesis.

They first meet at meet in a university museum where she is about to spray paint a Renaissance sculpture of a male nude because of a strategically placed fig leaf. Adam stops her just in time, but it doesn't stop Evelyn from telling Adam that she objects the fig leaf because it robs it of its honesty, she says, "I don't like art that isn't true." Since she can't deface the sculpture, Evelyn decides to remake and perfect Adam, who is slightly overweight, has slightly curly hair, wears glasses and generally lacks loads of self-confidence.

Adam is totally sweet, and lovable, but he's also rather gullible. Without questioning her motivations, Paul allows Evelyn to talk him into shedding a few pounds, dressing better, swapping his glasses for contact lenses, and even getting him to have a nose job. Paul's best friends, college jock Philip (Frederick Weller) and the demure Jenny (Gretchen Mol) are suspicious, but they have no idea of Evelyn's motive, and the beauty of the story is that either do we.

Philip takes an almost instant dislike to Evelyn. She says that she hates "his type," and although Philip doesn't verbalize it, it's clear that Evelyn is the kind of woman who Philip doesn't like. She's too brainy, feminist and outspoken, not the least bit acquiescent and certainly not submissive to men. Meanwhile, the kind-hearted Jenny and Paul seem to be perfectly matched; they harbor a deep affection for one another, and one gets the feeling that they were meant to be together.

It's all very nasty and underhanded, but the script is so intelligently written, the acting so good, and the observations of men and women so laceratingly acute, that LaBute could probably forgiven for his cruel and unkind observations.

The edgy Rachel Weisz proves that she's an immensely talented actress. She attacks her role as a conniving female with a relentlessness abandon and her formidable performance is saturated with absolute acrimony. Is she a man-hater, or purely an artist? LaBute himself refers to the character of Evelyn an "art terrorist."

Having played their roles on the stage for so long and so often, Mol, Rudd, Weller, and Weisz are able to fully inhabit their parts. There's a familiarity with their characters, which lend the proceedings a valuable authenticity; it all feels natural and absolutely real, despite the staginess of its one-on-one series of hyper-articulate conversations. No one really talks this way in life, and yet it all sounds authentic.

The Shape of Things is a punishing film, thanks to Weisz and to the terrific Weller, but it also has the warmth generated by the charming Mol and Rudd. And the film ultimately shows just how far someone is willing to go to justify his or her "art." Mike Leonard September 05.

Without going into too much detail for fear of spoiling it for those who haven't watched it yet, nerdy Adam (Paul Rudd) falls head over heels for sexy, zany art student Evelyn (Weisz). Their relationship develops quickly, with Adam undergoing a major makeover - losing 20lbs, getting a nose job, and becoming a whole lot more easy on the eye in general.

However, personalities clash when Adam's oldest friend takes a dislike to Evelyn, resulting in jealousy, break ups and fall outs. Furthermore, Adam's new-found confidence is slowly becoming arrogance...
The great pity about this film is that the idea has quite a lot of potential, but it was not well directed enough to work in this instance.
The scenes are far too long, far too rambling, and it is hard to feel any empathy for the characters of Adam's best friend (whose name I can't even remember) or this character's girlfriend (whose name has also escaped me.) These two characters were poorly acted, had little screen presence, and in the blokes case, plain annoying.

As for the 'twist' ending, I saw it coming a mile off. Anyone who pays attention at the beginning of the film will soon realise how it will end, and the finale is not particularly spectacular. I give it two stars rather than one simply because the two leads are acted well.

BUY THIS MOVIE!