Somebody hurt Tom Ford. That much is clear. A film this pointed and personal could not possibly have come from inexperience. And so I say, Tom, I hear you. I am sorry for whatever happened. Please don’t take it out on me.
Failed artist Susan Morrow (Amy Adams) has turned her lack-of-talent into the art curation biz. When not awaiting her cheating husband, she culls, displays and sells the kind of thought-provoking [read: disturbing] modern art one might find in the tragically overrated Neon Demon. Ok, I was already thinking this film looked and felt a great deal like Neon Demon when Jena Malone showed up in the exact same role as the former. I’m not kidding.
Luckily, unlike the other, Nocturnal Animals has a plot. It’s not a plot I enjoyed, at all -this is a tremendously unpleasant film to watch- but at least the plot exists. Susan comes home to find her ex-husband has written a book and dedicated it to her. Aw, isn’t that sweet? I suppose it would be were the book not a violent hate piece. 75% of Nocturnal Animals is the book-within-the-film, in which Tony Hastings (Jake Gyllenhaal, who doubles as Susan’s ex) has the worst night of his life on a highway in West Texas. Tony, wife and daughter are run off the road by some good ol’ boys, who proceed to toy with the trio before choosing to act in a manner that changes lives forever.
This is a “good guy with a gun” picture, meaning there’s an extremely unlikely scenario easily solved if the hero just has a gun on him. Well, geez, pal, you’re Texan, aren’t you? Why aren’t you holding? How are you supposed to protect you and yours when whomever you fear is coming for you comes for you? And, of course, the villains aren’t carrying either, which makes zero sense given what they do. The relationship between Tony and the ring leader, Ray (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is, by far, my least favorite relationship of the year. I hated every single spoken word, expression and gesture within it.
And during these scenes, the film cuts to “reality,” showing the refined Susan growing more and 
more uncomfortable with the text in her hands. Hmmmm, it seems like her ex is upset about something.
Nocturnal Animals is an ugly celebration of distorted Right Wing values: vigilantism, frontier justice, pro-birthism, right to bear arms, etc. While these aren’t values I necessarily share, I can’t knock the film on that score; 300 was a great film with distorted RW values, as are many films Clint Eastwood made last century. What bugs me is the handling – it’s preachy and anecdotal at best. The siege in question is the most comically one-sided expression of evil since A Time to Kill – and I didn’t care for the handling there, either. And every single bit of it is wrapped in a man’s hatred for his ex-wife. Certainly Tom Ford sees Susan as the catalyst for the trouble, the pain, the anger, but writing a book –or making a movie for that matter—entirely about seeking to humble your ex-wife is, for me, the apex of passive aggression … the epitome, if you will. Time wasters, short-sheeters, non-acknowledgers, you can all bow your heads in awe – Tom Ford is your king. He has created a masterpiece of passive aggression. Well done.
♪Texas roads open well after dark
But ‘less you want trouble, you’ll remain in park
Don’t look to pass those awful men
Looks like they got sprung from the pen
Pulled off to the side to exchange info
Just one reason, and you don’t know
In the daytime, maybe they ain’t the same
But here and now, it’s a lethal game … cuz
The jerks come out at night
Jerks come out at night
Jerks come out at night
Jerks come out at night♫
Rated R, 116 Minutes
D: Tom Ford
W: Tom Ford
Genre: Revenge screenplay
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Vigilantes
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Pacifists
♪ Parody inspired by “Freaks Come Out at Night”
