TORONTO - Colin Firth has long been Hollywood's poster boy for the perfect date. It's a title the actor has reluctantly held ever since moviegoers swooned for him in 2001's "Bridget Jones' Diary" and 1995's "Pride and Prejudice," the wildly popular A&E television series.
Chick-flick fans, however, are in for a much darker ride with 48-year-old Firth in "Genova," the eerie new film from director Michael Winterbottom.
Evoking those unshakeable chills reminiscent of Nicolas Roeg's classic "Don't Look Now," Winterbottom sets this nerve-rattler in Genoa, where the city's obvious beauty and mysterious underbelly are blurred to perfection.
Devastated by the death of his wife in a car crash, a middle-aged university professor (Firth) believes some time away from Chicago would benefit him and his two grieving daughters, eight-year-old Mary and 17-year-old Kelly.
The girls hardly object to their father's proposition. In fact, when the trio arrives on Italian soil and hooks up with their dad's ex (Catherine Keener) some normalcy seems restored to their shattered lives.
Appearances, however, can be deceiving.
Wracked with guilt for distracting her mother and causing the accident Mary starts hallucinating about the dead woman. Her phantom visions are both soothing to the lonely girl and scary as hell.
Older sister Kelly offers no comfort. Secretly blaming the child for the family's tragedy, the teen parties with Italian boys to ease her pain.
Their father, too, offers no real help. Willingly buried by his new university job, his own nightmarish feelings about his wife's death wreak more havoc on his state of mind.
Throughout it all Firth and Winterbottom leave audiences unable to separate the real and unreal as the film's lost souls get sucked up by Genoa's dark, maze-like streets.
Firth's performance in "Genova" isn't a joy ride. But it is as thrilling as a Vespa ride darting in and out of this city's eerie corridors. Strap on that helmet Firth fans and get ready for some satisfying screen chills.
