Third Person

Three interlinked dramas unfold in this seemingly personal project from writer/director Paul Haggis. In New York, a struggling actress (Mila Kunis) battles to regain custody of her young son from ex-husband James Franco; in Rome, a dodgy businessman (Adrien Brody) is bewitched by a seductive stranger; while in Paris, novelist Liam Neeson is labouring at the typewriter while carrying on a fractious affair with a troubled journalist (Olivia Wilde). That last strand is the centrepiece, though Michael's struggle to match former glories resonates with Haggis's plummeting creative fortunes since the Oscar-winning Crash. Clearly, there's ambition in the switchback editing and thematic connections (parental guilt, loneliness), while Haggis certainly gives his ensemble cast flamboyantly emotive roles. However, the whole teetering edifice seriously outstays its welcome, and catastrophically presents the final twist as a mind-blowing dénouement when the clumsy direction had long since given the game away.