I caught the new Atom Egoyan film Friday night. I missed it at TIFF and I’m glad I finally got to see it. Chloe is a well acted movie set here in Toronto starring Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried. An interesting “bonus” for the Toronto movie watcher is to see the city as yet another character in the film.

Originally this remake of the French film Nathalie, starring Gérard Depardieu, was to be set in San Francisco. I’m glad that Ivan Reitman simply produced the film and hired Egoyan work for the project. Egoyan brought an interesting take on the material. He also threw in a slew of Toronto locations which are shamelessly featured without the usual alterations to turn them into a real or fictionalized US cityscape. From Yorkville, Allan Gardens, The Rivoli, photos by Edward Burtynsky, even the quaint College retreat Café Diplomatico form the backdrop for this erotic thriller. The chilling subject matter is handled with sophistication.

It’s a relief to see some great cinema on the big screen. So few movie releases have Canadian content let alone a Canadian city as its location. Atom Egoyan delivers both and shines again.