Rent The Shape of Things (2003)

Love Bomb - The Shape of Things review by Steve

Punchy black comedy which starts out like a glossy spin on the rules of 21st century dating, set to songs by Elvis Costello. But a satisfying late twist takes it somewhere completely unexpected. Though my main thrill is to notice how much Rachel Weisz looks like superstar of '30s melodrama, Sylvia Sidney.

Weisz plays a sexy, subversive arts student who meets cute with a chubby, shabby English undergraduate (Paul Rudd). And the unlikely romance seems to demonstrate the malign consequences of their inequality. It's a four hander with Gretchen Mol and Fred Weller as their mismatched double date.

Neil LaBute adapted his own play, in a period when he was controversial (and hip) for exposés on the cynicism of millennial metropolitan life. Maybe the highly designed plot overwhelms the realism this implies, but the cruel, final reveal still has the potential to shock. Though the impact only works once.

Anyone expecting a romcom about the rules of attraction may be surprised to be eventually confronted with an actual lecture on the ethics of creativity. There is something for either potential audience, but those mainly interested in the status of post-modern art are more likely to be satisfied.