4. The Music of Chance
Based on the Paul Auster Novel of the same name, Music of Chance is an understated and tricksy film exploring the idea of random chance. It stars James Spader and Mandy Patinkin and to explain the plot too far would be to spoil the magic of the film. It has a gentle pace, which deliberately misleads you as there is always more going on than meets the eye. The whole film is atmospheric, beautifully shot and has a sense of existential absurdism. What I can tell you about the plot is that Spader and Patinkins characters end up playing cards with two seemingly doddery old gents played by Charles Durning and Joel Grey, whose creepy performance fortells that all is not right. They lose their card game and to pay off their debt agree to build a wall in the elderly duos garden, overseen by the fantastic M. Emmet Walsh, who is sly and slippery as the caretaker. This is where things start to unravel for our two chancers, as the consequences of their seemingly random acts lead them into a whole lot of trouble. You have to watch it to find out what happens next but it features lots of great peformances and is directed with icy calm by Phillip Haas. This is a clever movie and after it has finished you will be unsettled and uncertain as to what you have just seen.