Yeah, I didn't think much of this Patricia Highsmith novel adaptation, which feels like one of those films (such as THE TOURIST) which is all about the visuals - the locations, costumes, look of actors etc. - to the detriment of the rather predictable plotting. The main characters are a couple of American tourists in Greece who become involved with a young con man when the ugly face of murder rears its head.

This should be torrid, suspenseful stuff, and yet it all plays out in the most unsatisfactory manner. Even the action scenes don't have any of the tension or excitement that should be rolling off the screen. The director is far too interested in his 'beautiful' cinematography to worry about generating the usual suspense that acts as the backbone for many a thriller. It seems that the Iranian born Hossein Amini is better known as a scriptwriter, as this was his first feature length directed movie, so perhaps he should stick to writing.

One of the most criminal things about The Two Faces of January is that it wastes a leading performance from the great Viggo Mortensen. Mortensen has a typically complex character to play, but is subdued so that you almost feel like he's wooden in places even though that can't possibly be the case. I've never liked the overly earnest Oscar Isaac much either, and Kirsten Dunst is just terrible. The resultant film is a missed opportunity more than anything else.

It's 1962 Athens. Rydal (Oscar Isaac) is a tour guide charming and scamming his female visitors. He finds a mark in American couple Chester MacFarland (Viggo Mortensen) and his wife Colette (Kirsten Dunst). A man looking for Dunleavy intrudes into the couple's hotel room. He's been hired by MacFarland's former clients and pulls out a gun. The man is killed. While trying to dispose of the body, Rydal comes up to return a bracelet. Rydal gets pulled into the suspicious cover-up that Chester initially claims to be a drunk making a pass at Colette. Rydal tries to help them escape while skimming off the top.

This has the feel of 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' which is another novel from Patricia Highsmith. However there is a fun and audacity of the con that is missing. It has the Hitchcockian backbones but the story feels tired. Isaac is a bit detached playing it more like supporting role rather than the staring role this is supposed to be. Mortensen is smoking up a storm and has a bit of fun. Dunst is beautiful but her character is too clueless. I rather she not play the innocent. All the material seems to be here for a great psychological thriller but it comes together as more flat than exciting.

I knew the leading actor and actress starring in this movie, to be honest this was good enough reason for me to watch, but also it had been on television a number of times, without me getting the opportunity to see it, so I finally made the effort to watch eventually. Basically set in 1962, charismatic Chester MacFarland (Viggo Mortensen) and his alluring younger wife Colette (Kirsten Dunst) are a glamorous couple from America touring Greece, they visit visit the Acropolis of Athens. While sightseeing they encounter a fellow American, young Greek-speaking Rydal (Oscar Isaac) who is working as a tour guide, scamming tourists on the side, he is impressed with Chester's wealth and sophistication and drawn to Colette's beauty. Rydal accepts the couple's invitation to dinner, but all is not as it seems with the MacFarlands, Chester hides a dark secret, he is con artist, after dinner he is confronted by a private detective, hired by victims of Chester's investment swindles. The detective pulls a gun, in a brief struggle the detective falls and hits his head, Chester finds Rydal in the corridor and demands he help him move the body, he claims the man tried to attack him and assumes he is only unconscious, but the man is dead. In the moment, Rydal agrees to help, but events take a sinister turn and he finds himself compromised and unable to get himself out, he is forced to join Chester and Colette as they go on the run. Rydal continues his infatuation for the vulnerable and responsive Colette, but this only antagonises Chester with increasing jealousy, creating more tensions and paranoia, it becomes a dangerous game of wits between the two men. They are forced to hide in the ruins of Knossos, Chester lures Rydal in and knocks him out, when he emerges, assuming Rydal is dead, Colette tells Chester that this is no way to live, fleeing from one part of the world to another, always afraid that they will be found out by the police, Chester grabs her and tries to force her to come with him, but they struggle, she loses balance, and falls to her death. Rydal comes round the next morning and finds Colette's body, he tracks down Chester, the two men realise they are now bound together by the deaths of the detective and Colette, and the acquisition of false passports, they take a ship back to Athens and go to the airport, Chester pretends to buy tickets to Frankfurt for them both, but leaves Rydal behind, with incriminating evidence. Rydal is arrested, the authorities make a deal with him, forcing him to wear a wire and demand a meeting with Chester in the Grand Bazaar, but Chester suspects his constant questioning and realising he is trying to force a confession out of him. In the end, the police shoot Chester when he attempts to flee, as he lies dying, he speaks into the wire, admitting his responsibility for the deaths of the detective and Colette, exonerating Rydal, Rydal is released, he requests for Chester to buried in Istanbul, he visits his grave and buries Colette's bracelet at the tombstone, and walks away. Also starring Daisy Bevan as Lauren, David Warshofsky as Paul Vittorio and Omiros Poulakis as Nikos. Motensen, Isaac and Dunst all give good performances, it is a simple story of a targeted couple, one being a conman, becoming embroiled with a scam artist in a cat and mouse game with the authorities, it is perhaps a little more style over substance, the costumes, period detail, use of colour and locations look fabulous, but I found myself losing a track a little sometimes, but the plot is full of worthwhile intrigue, and moments of suspense and tension work well, all in all it is reasonable thriller. Worth watching!