A Promise
Director: Patrice Leconte
Year Released: 2013
Rating: 1.0
Pre-World War, German industrialist Hoffmeister (Alan Rickman) hires personal secretary Zeitz (Richard Madden) to work for him and eventually live with him - trouble is, Hoffmeister has a younger wife (Rebecca Hall) who begins a romance with Zeitz before Zeitz has to go to Mexico. The flimsy and predictable storyline is dependent on the chemistry between Madden and Hall, but their characters are so superficially written - and Madden is so sullen - there's little spark between them so when they are separated the supposed emotional pain of their distance doesn't quite register. Only Rickman acts like he has any stake in this, but inviting a young single male in to live with you might not have been the wisest choice ... a broken puzzle as a sign of a temporarily fractured relationship is out of The Primer for Bad Metaphors.
