Adrift

From Inception to Worth

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Karine Arlot/IFC Films

Shock horror, a top-10-films-of-2010 list that omits both "Avatar" and "Inception," and I make absolutely no apologies for doing so. Personally speaking, I had to be thoroughly coerced into even going to see "Avatar" in the first place. My instincts were sadly correct and I only resisted walking out because I thought James Cameron couldn't possibly make as much of a hash of the final act as he did the rest of the movie. I was sadly misguided in my assumptions. Now "Inception" was far more successful, and I'm a big fan of both Christopher Nolan and Leonardo DiCaprio. My main complaint with "Inception" lies in the fact that the premise is far stronger than the execution. While many critics will invariably place these two pictures in their top 10, there's no room for them in mine. So onto my personal favorites from the past 12 months …

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Missing in Action on the Side

MOVIE REVIEW
Adrift (2009)

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The Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival

Vietnamese director Bui Thac Chuyên’s second feature “Adrift” is an introspective and thoughtful study of loneliness, sexual desire and experimentation. Mismatched relationships lie at the heart of the picture, which centers around newlywed Duyen (an understated Do Thi Hai Yen) and her dalliances with her young disinterested husband Hai (Nguyen Duy Khoa), solemn friend Cam (Pham Linh Dan) and mysterious alpha male Tho (a rugged Johnny Nguyen).

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