This sensitive drama of a young woman's affair with a much older photographer effectively explores the problematic nature for a woman of finding her identity and maturity through a relationship which inherently seems weighted towards the egotistical gratification of the male. Polley and Rea make intriguing partners in what develops into a subtle power game, even if the conception of Rea tends a bit too much toward conventional self-possessed charismatic distance. The film's side-excursions into satire (mainly through pot-shots at Polley's constipated family of lawyers) are quite successful; in the end, the film allows Rea a measure of indulgence in his grandiose fantasy, but makes that enjoyment explicitly a gift that lies under Polley's control - one might have a satisfying sexual-politics-oriented debate about whether this is a satisfying arrival point.
