The first scene is cast in blue and black shadows, as if explaining the mood before a word is spoken. Your email address will not be published. We want to hear what you have to say but need to verify your account. There he confronts Alan a final time, and gets him to confess on camera that he thinks nothing of his wife and considers Lola to be his "prize". This leads to Frank and his eventual understanding of Lolas tragedy as hers, not his to appropriate. IMDb rating: 6.0 /10 (3,663 votes) Frank & Lola is a 2016 noir love story written and directed by Matthew Ross in his directorial debut, and . We wont be able to verify your ticket today, but its great to know for the future. Dont worry, it wont take long. 1h 28m. Moving forcefully between movies and theater, Michael Shannon is a convincing and resourceful actor who is now too established and viable to settle for enigmatic roles in meaningless, throwaway movies with zero possibilities for commercial success like a thing called Frank & Lola. When Lola receives a job as a fashion designer, Frank becomes jealous of her boss, Keith Winkleman, even though Keith makes it clear that he does not make a habit of sleeping with his employees. Not Rated. It turns out theres no rest for the wicked. But that is only if you saw the film around the time you had the argument. Excited at witnessing how Vaughn Family Wines functions, she comes up with a beautiful sketch of Sybylla Vaughn and suggests pitching it to Hazel as a bottle label design. Coming Soon. At the same time, Calder loses Hazels contract due to his poor work ethic, but Lola decides to not go after her and looks for fresh clients. Having seen him with Lola in the swimming pool earlier, she realizes that they like each other. Later, we move into gloomy streets covered in the same shadows, although now backlit by the neon lights of Vegas. Frank is a talented and driven chef working in Las Vegas whose life is thrown into a tailspin after he meets and falls passionately in love with Lola, an aspiring fashion designer. It just didn't feel real to me, and I wanted these characters to feel real. He cleverly lies to Hazel and says that he is offering Lola a promotion in the company, and tries stealing credits for her efforts again. Lola arrives late to the dinner, and is surprised to find that the restaurant is Frank's. Frank & Lola (2016) Crime, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller [ USA:Unrated, 1 h 28 min] Michael Shannon, Imogen Poots, Michael Nyqvist, Justin Long. The problem is that, despite being played by two charismatic and more-than-capable actors, the title characters never click in the way they need to. Unlock access to all of Film Inquiry`s great articles. Matt Zoller Seitz is the Editor at Largeof RogerEbert.com, TV critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.com, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism. He lovingly confesses his feelings for her and they kiss passionately. His short stories have been published in The Cuffer Anthology Volumes VI & VII, as well as upcoming stories in new anthologies from Centum Press (One Hundred Voices & One Hundred Voices Pt. Frank explains that he made "that psycho" (Alan) leave her alone forever, and attempts to rekindle their relationship. A young girl falls for an older man, a stable human, and she tries to adapt to such a life after living with instability for years. Frank & Lola. , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes. Shannon and Poots star as the titular couple here. He follows the man outside and beats him in a fit of rage. But during one of her wine tasting events, Max suddenly turns up and apologizes for his past behavior. But Ross isnt Wong Kar-wai. Welcome to the Quantum Realm. His obsessive personality gives way to a dangerous masculinity, one that cannot seem to focus on the plight of his lover, but rather is aimed at the only thing it sees forward: revenge. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. After Alan shows him a video of Lola in bed with another woman, Frank switches prey and follows the woman in the video. However, Lola's reflection can be seen in one of the doors, watching Frank, leaving the status of their relationship ambiguous. Lola (Imogen Poots) | Frank (Michael Shannon) Storyline. While fooling around, she reveals she likes to be held down. Just below that it reads "Ticket Confirmation#:" followed by a 10-digit number. When they're together, there's a relaxed, whispery quality to their interactions that's at odds with the mad foolish love so much of the plot seems to require. The next morning, Frank deduces that the unknown man Lola had slept with was Alan, and asks Lola to tell him the truth about her affair with him. Even if the audience cant always root for Frank and Lolas relationship, theres an element to the love they share which makes them so compulsively watchable because of the darkness their love conveys even in scenes of tranquility. And Poots emits precisely this aura of remote privilege against which Shannon is usually used as a tonal counterbalance, only without the superstardom to fulfill it, which might explain why she so rarely connects with her co-stars or the audience. Dec. 8, 2016. He puts a letter through Alan's door pretending to be Lola and asking him to meet her in the hotel's closed restaurant, which is actually Frank's new restaurant. Because what an audience of men specifically need to understand, alongside Frank, is that the assault or rape of a woman has nothing to do with the next man shes with, it only has to do with her. Thus, after so many months of sincere hard work, her dream of working with Vaughn Family Wines finally comes true. They meet in Las Vegas, while Frank is on the job, and he makes her a mouth-watering omelet of caviar and French butter. This is nuts considering how crazy they both are, but Ross makes it workOne thing that's significant about Frank & Lola is that it's a legitimately serious film about sex, something that's increasingly rare these daysRoss has a really sharp eye, with it having a rich, sophisticated look that gives the film studio-level production values. [24], "Sundance Institute Completes Feature Film Lineup For 2016 Sundance Film Festival", "Berlin: Arclight Launches Robert Halmi-Backed 'Frank And Lola' (EXCLUSIVE)", "Sundance Slates Composers and Filmmakers for Music and Sound Labs", "Danny Bensi & Saunder Jurriaans to Score 'Frank & Lola', "Sundance Premieres Include Films From James Schamus, Spike Lee", "Universal Lands 'Frank And Lola' For $2M+ Sundance", "Michael Shannon & Imogen Poots Romantic Noir 'Frank & Lola' Sets December Date", "Michael Shannon falls for a femme fatale in smoldering Frank & Lola trailer exclusive", "Frank & Lola review Michael Shannon sizzles in twisted romance", "Sundance Review: 'Frank & Lola' Starring Michael Shannon, Imogen Poots, And Michael Nyqvist", "Matthew Ross sends Michael Shannon down a rabbit hole of sex, lies, and depravity", "First Look At 'Frank & Lola' Starring Michael Shannon & Imogen Poots Sundance Video", "25 Filmmakers & Actors That Broke Through At The 2016 Sundance Film Festival", "The 15 Best Films at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival", "Best of Fest: Sundance 2016's Top 10 New Voices", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Frank_%26_Lola&oldid=1137699558, This page was last edited on 6 February 2023, at 00:33. In the end, Ross leaves us with an ambiguitywhich pervades the last shot dominated by a simple reflection in a mirror and he never leads us one way or another to any answers. Regardless, Lola approaches her and pitches her ideas, but the latter turns her down as her company is relatively new and still needs a license. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Writer/director Matthew Ross originally wrote the script nearly a decade before the film was shot. The female in this film, as in too many genre movies, is just the girl, who alternates on cue between manipulative tramp and heartbroken virgin. You're almost there! A love-sick guy who allows himself to fall for the wrong girl and then gets led down a morally rocky path toward oblivion. Starring: Michael Shannon, Imogen Poots and Justin Long Above all, Frank & Lolais a raw and honest look at the consequences of sexual assault on a woman. Seeing her progress, Max allows her to learn sheep shearing firsthand and gifts her a new hat in appreciation. Lola tells Frank that the wealthy woman who picked him up in the club was in reality Alan's wife Claire, and that Alan brings her men to sleep with in exchange for her allowing him to do whatever he wants. It could be because the script isnt superlative gear, just considering how they made information technology work despite that, there lies the reason for this being mixed. I discovered that there's a really cool and exciting, vibrant arts and culture scene there that's just been developing downtown. "I have this Forrest Gump-ian way of touching something and it becomes a hit!" Further than that, he offers an antithesis to the rape-revenge sub-genre, all too often adopted as of late by many horror movies. [4] In February 2015, Arclight Films announced that it had acquired all international sales rights for the film. A few days after his talk with Hazel, he takes Lola to visit the winery, and she is elated to finally return to what she loves doing the most. Then, theres no turning back. this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. Featuring shades of Bret Easton Ellis, Charles Bukowski, and Raymond Carver, Frank & Lola proves an enthralling and intoxicating love story from its upfront beginning to and ending which proves a mix of melancholy and hope. A steamy neo-noir that builds considerable suspense while throwing a succession of narrative curves, it might have been called Sex, Lies and Videotape had not the title already been takenall three are major plot elements, although the VHS element has been updated. graduate with a concentration in pre-19th century literature from Memorial University of Newfoundland. Please click the link below to receive your verification email. There is always this appearance of suffering when it comes to Shannon, and that looks is used well here. Frank becomes obsessed with exacting revenge on Alan, and begins finding out details about him online. So does Lola finally manage to win the contract as well as his heart? Did I enjoy the performances of this picture show? Maybe not the most memorable, merely a decent way to spend an hour and a half. But the job interview is a pretext to confront the would-be patron (played by Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist), the owner of the Las Vegas hotel where Frank would serve as head chef. When Frank discovers a one-night stand Lola had in a hotel with an unknown man from out of town, he storms out feeling angry and betrayed. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. Elsewhere, in Los Angeles, Audra finds out that Lola is in Australia to meet Hazel as their potential competition. 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