Adapted from a Patricia Highsmith novel, The Two Faces of January is, like Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, a tale of deceptive identities. When we meet Chester (Viggo Mortensen) and Colette (Kirsten Dunst) in 1960s Greece, they seem like a rich, elegant American couple casually touring Europe. It’s not long, though, before Chester’s previous life catches up with him. A private detective comes to his hotel room demanding payment on behalf of a group who were swindled by Chester when he lived in the U.S. After a brief tussle, the detective ends up dead on the bathroom floor.
By the time that happens, though, Chester and Colette have befriended Rydal (Oscar Isaac), whose back story, while less evidently misleading, is also mysterious. He’s introduced as a more obvious cheat than Chester, running small scams on tourists while working as a tour guide. His demeanor, more than Chester’s, suggests that he may not be what he claims to be. And ultimately, while Rydal, too, may be on the run from his past, his past may not be so sinister.
Rydal and Chester are flip sides of the reinvention narrative, embodied quite magnificently by Isaac and Mortensen. Isaac, still doughy-eyed but much less frazzled than in Inside Llewyn Davis, captures a self-assured center beneath Rydal’s somewhat fidgety outer appearance. Chester, on the other hand, is pristinely put together but barely controlled just below the surface. Rydal, it seems, will find peace eventually, but Chester’s torment only grows more frightening and dangerous.
The face-off between these two polarized characters — and two fine actors — offers up a fine flirtatious dance but never quite the promised payoff, although the two do share a few splendid interactions. One scene where the normally haughty Chester apologizes for a drunken episode and is brushed off by Rydal typifies these moments — they’re made up of small gestures and looks that raise the tension in the men’s power struggle.