This is an adaptation of David Leavitt's ' The Page Turner ', a novel which should have landed in better hands. I am not saying it is a bad film, but neither is it the good film it could have been. Italy has been substituted by Spain, and in a painting by numbers way we see some of the best of Barcelona. Those scenes were worthy of Jean Negulesco and at one point ' Three Coins in the Fountain ' is mentioned. Perhaps this was a sigh of regret concerning the loss of Italy. This is a ' Gay ' film and very self-conscious of the fact, and sadly it shows. Apart from Juliet Stevenson who gives a perfect performance the rest of the acting cast did not. Kevin Bishop does his best as the youth who is the focus of wealthy, influential men and at times he emotionally convinces, but his detachment from the sexual scenes ( mild though they are ) is painful to watch. I will give no spoilers about the plot, only to say that the well-off can be as unhappy as the poor, but as a wit said it is better to be unhappy with money. Ambition and power is shown at its most pathetically corrupt, and that the world of the arts is no better than that of any other less glamorous business. Sexuality is up for grabs and in the scene with a male prostitute that point strikes home with brutal reality. Perhaps David Leavitt would not have approved, but if he was still alive at the time of the film's making Rainer Werner Fassbinder could have done a tremendous job at dissecting this particular ship of fools.
Review of Food of Love
