British film-maker Adrian Lyne hit paydirt with a string of erotic thrillers, but Deep Water is his first movie for 20 years. Can stars (and ex-lovers) Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas outsweat Glenn Close and Michael Douglas?
Adrian Lyne is 81 and hasn’t made a film for 20 years. The last one was Unfaithful, a top erotic thriller to add to his sweaty collection (Fatal Attraction, Indecent Proposal, 9½ Weeks). It won an Oscar nomination for Diane Lane, who we saw flushed on a train, recalling her busy afternoon with Olivier Martinez.
So, on the surface, Lyne seems a strange choice to direct Deep Water, based on a book by Patricia Highsmith about a sterile marriage. Vic Van Allen is a small-time press publisher in New England who breeds snails in the garage. His wife, Melinda, takes a string of dim younger lovers. Her trysts are not detailed; instead, Highsmith concentrates on Vic.