The Shape of Things

Adam is a young man working at a university, without confidence and somewhat unkempt. While working as a guard at the museum he meets Evelyn, who has stepped past the rope intending to spray paint on a sculpture. The two begin seeing each other. She makes suggestions: cut his hair, lose weight, change his jacket, have his nose done. He does all of it. His friends say he has changed. He thinks the change is good. Then what Evelyn's postgraduate project actually is comes out. Neil LaBute writes and directs. Paul Rudd, Rachel Weisz, Gretchen Mol and Frederick Weller take the parts. The film is adapted from LaBute's own stage play and all four actors are the same cast as on stage; the play was staged in London first. The production is deliberately close to theatre: long scenes, few settings and unbroken dialogue. The question the narrative asks is the limit of art; is using a person as material art, and what does consent cover. The film softens nothing at the end and the harm done to the character is left in the open. Songs by Elvis Costello are used at the opening and the close. Who it is for: viewers who like American independent work with hard dialogue and LaBute's films. Who it is not for: the characters are deliberately cold, little happens, and the ending is unacceptable to some.