The Object of Beauty (1991)

John Malkovich and Andie McDowell, unmarried but happy, are high-living surfers on a wave of risky investments and the luxury that can come from them. They are in a fancy London hotel when Malkovich's ship not only doesn't come in; his pier collapses and they are out of money and credit. The only thing of value they own is a pint-sized bronze head of a woman by Henry Moore, which looks like something you might make in a high school art class out of papiere-maché if you happened to be drunk.The object of beauty disappears, stolen by a poor, mute, plain-looking made to whom "it spoke." It doesn't speak to the owners, except to say "Twenty-five thousand dollars." The object of beauty is not the same as objective beauty. Tension between the lovers. Arguments. Their relationship is questioned. Finally, after much difficulty, the object of beauty is restored.It's slow. The direction is competent and the art direction fine. A lot depends on the characters and the dialog. McDowell, Malkovich, and Lolita Davidovich meet the challenge.It would have been a good screwball comedy from the 1930s, with maybe William Powell and Carol Lombard. But then we'd have been deprived of a lingering look at the sleeping Andie McDowell's beckoning haunch.Diverting enough to keep you watching. And there is some wit distributed through the writing in little bits and pieces.

Call me a goody-goody, but I have a hard time liking a movie (or a story) in which dishonest people - right from the start - are made out to be the "good guys."The main couple in this film - "Tina and Jake," played by Andie MacDowell and John Malkovich, respectively - are a couple of cheats, liars and bankrupt people when it comes to ethics. We are supposed to root for these people, and "laugh" along with them?Later we have to hear them squabbling all the time when their con goes awry. No thanks.What a sick message and a poor excuse for entertainment.

Have you ever been to a party where you dislike everybody? By that, I mean, you can not find one single person whose company you enjoy. This movie is that party!There is not one single redeemable character in this movie, no one you can sympathize with or care about. No one worth spending your time, which means this movie is not worth spending your time.The two main characters are two spoiled, rotten, selfish, moronic individuals without one good character trait I can see. The one character that you would expect to illicit sympathy, the deaf house maid, is also portrayed as selfish and idiotic. Each character's moves throughout the entire movie illicits the following question: "Why would anyone do that?!"If you like this type of party, then enjoy, but if you're like me, throw the invitation away.

a smart, little chekhovian drama about greed and infidelity. malkovich and mcdowell play themselves: a cold, calculating bastard and a spoiled, falsely naive princess. a great little film that deserves to be mentioned more often.