REVIEW: ADORATION
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UNLIKE its name, ADORATION (15) is a drama that's easy to respect but hard to love.
Covering ideas about family loss, terrorism, the internet and teenage angst, director Atom Egoyan's film is a feast for the brain but never satisfies on the emotional front.
When his high school French teacher reads out a story about a terrorist who planted a bomb in his unsuspecting girlfriend's hand luggage, student Simon claims the story is about his own parents.
In reality, his family died in a car crash years before but Simon presents his story as the truth and even uploads it to the web for everyone - from fellow pupils to actual passengers on the flight - to comment on.
Swirling around all this is Simon's guardian, his uncle, who has his own beliefs tested when he's confronted by a mysterious Middle Eastern stranger. And just why is Simon's teacher so happy for him to lie?
It's provocative stuff and Egoyan matches that complexity by jumping around in the story, offering tiny pieces to the mystery as he goes.
It all feels a bit mechanical - and strong performances can't make up for a director who swamps the drama in a hotchpotch of ambitious but cold brainteasers. - JUSTIN MATLOCK
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