
“The Two Faces of January” plays like a good old fashioned thriller. Based on a novel by Patricia Highsmiths, Highsmith is also responsible for classics
such as “The Talented Mr Ripley” and “Strangers on a Train”.
“The Two Faces of January” tells the story of Chester (Mortensen) and Colette (Dunst) Mac Farland, a happily married American couple who, when on holiday
in Greece meet a young tour guide called Rydal (Oscar Isaac). However Rydal is not all that he seems, as well as being a tour guide he's also a con artist
whose speciality is separating wealthy tourist from their holiday cash. Seeing the Mac Farlands as easy prey he quickly targets them, unfortunately for
Rydal the Mac Farlands are not all that they seem as they have a dark past that is about to come back and haunt them. On the evening that Rydal agrees to
meet the Chesters, and before they can leave their hotel room, they get a visit from a private eye who is looking to collect money that Chester has stolen
in a scam back in America. Unfortunately for Chester and the detective things don't go too well during the confrontation and soon there's a dead body in
the bathroom.
Rydal, finding out about the death decides to help the couple escape from mainland Greece to the Island of Crete. It's from Crete that they hope to make
their way back to the United States.
This is a film that’s as classy as it is entertaining and comes highly recommended.