The Loft-110.CR2 The Loft-110.CR2
THE LOFT
DIRECTOR: Erik Van Looy
CAST: Karl Urban, Wentworth Miller, James Marsden, Mattias Schoenaerts, Eric Stonestreet, Kristin Lehman, Robert Wisdom
CLASSIFICATION: 16 DLSV
RUNNING TIME: 102 minutes
RATING: 2 stars (out of 5)
Frank Scheck
Erotic thrillers are a time-tested genre, but this effort, scripted by Wesley Strick, is neither erotic nor thrilling. The title refers to the sleek bachelor pad co-owned by five men solely for the purpose of conducting illicit liaisons. Unfortunately one of them doesn’t work out so well, as a dead woman is discovered one morning handcuffed to the bed with a Latin phrase written in blood on the wall.
Cue the whodunit plot machinations, as the quintet who possess the sole keys to the apartment begin arguing among themselves as to which one of them is the culprit.
The possible murderers include womanising architect Vincent (Urban); his suspiciously jealous friend Luke (Miller); Luke’s emotionally volatile half-brother Philip (Schoenaerts; vulgar, drunken lech Marty (Stonestreet) and sensitive shrink Chris (Marsden).
The overly convoluted plot, which includes extensive flashbacks depicting the men’s strained interactions with their long-suffering wives, quickly lapses into tedium unrelieved by the laughably silly dialogue. “There’s a dead woman in our loft,” one of the men announces quite unnecessarily long after she’s been discovered, while during a tense moment in the proceedings another cries, “Guys, we cannot keep doing this!”
Desperately delivering enough twists and turns to fuel a dozen or so thrillers, the ultimate resolution to the mystery is so ridiculously contrived, it makes the climax of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express seem simple by comparison.
The lead actors, who have graduated to more illustrious projects since this film was shot, strain to bring complexity to their schematic roles. They generally fail, although there is some amusement to be derived from watching Stonestreet obviously enjoying himself in a role that’s 180 degrees from his Modern Family character.
The film at least looks good, with cinematographer Nicholas Karakatsanis capturing the beautiful titular setting and gorgeous bodies on display with a glossy sheen. Despite the unfortunate fates befalling several of the characters, the film could well serve to encourage both extramarital affairs and the sale of upscale loft apartments. – The Hollywood Reporter
If you liked Focus or The Guest, you will like this.
