'Fair Play' Is A Heart racing Character Study On Gender Dynamics
Tense and thrilling, Chloe Dumont's Fair Play is a study on gender dynamics, toxic work environments, and unbridled jealousy that will keep you gripped from beginning to end. It's a reminder that despite living in what's supposed to be a progressively woke world, we have a long way to go. The sheer amount of disrespect our two main characters face in their hedgefund firm is baffling. In a dog-eat-dog world, the secret relationship between two analysts comes to a head-on collision. Chloe Dumont makes for a strong feature debut in a film that will keep your heart racing.
Dumont's film asks a lot from its performers. They must go through a range of extreme emotions. If you thought the argument in Marriage Story story was intense, you haven't seen anything yet. The way Phoebe Dynevor (Lisa) and Alden Ehrenreich (Luke) go at each other reaches one breaking point to another. It's such a train wreck that it makes you want to rewind the film to see it all over again. The film opens on a very real but heartfelt note. During a wedding, Luke and Lisa make love in the bathroom. Halfway through the process, they recognize Lisa's on her period. The scene is handled with realism as the two laugh about the awkward moment.
Soon, the laughter turns into shock when Luke drops his engagement ring out of his pocket. Luke proposes to Lisa, and Lisa accepts. From here, everything looks bright and promising. Two financial analysts at a hedge fund are doing fairly well. Both are good-looking, and both are engaged. What could possibly go wrong in their lives?
Lisa gets a promotion at the firm Luke wanted to get. At first, Luke is supportive of his fiance. When he says he's happy for her, it's clear there's a hint of jealousy. He even rejects her offer to help get him the job, as he wants to do it alone. There's a sign of things to come at the beginning of the film when one of the financiers has a complete meltdown in the office. The man's voice is muffled through the large glass doors, but the glass isn't thick enough to discern his vulgarities. Everyone can see the man's breakdown in the presentation room overlooking the office. To shut him out, someone turns up the TV's volume, pretending like nothing is happening.
Public meltdowns are a common occurrence in the office. In another instance, a man starts sobbing in the same office. Instead of feeling sorrow for him, two onlooking financiers mock him, saying, "Here comes the tears." Luke and Lisa's relationship is forbidden in the office, which still has rigid rules about workplace romance. Soon, one of them may wind up like those guys who lost their minds. Who it may be will only tell in a matter of time.
The world Luke and Lisa inhabit is that of the upper one percent. It has no room for empathy or understanding. Money never sleeps, nor does Lisa and Luke. Their job calls them at two in the morning, telling them to go out for drinks after crunching numbers since 4:30 a.m. Luke and Lisa's life is one of constant work and no sleep. When your job becomes your life, getting a promotion is all you can think about. Our two main characters' competitive environment would turn anyone into a self-absorbed, greedy asshole.
Immediately after getting promoted, Lisa's coworkers joke that she blew the boss to get the job. Everyone undermines Lisa's decisions because she's a woman in a higher position. That's until she actually makes some money for them. Things don't take long to unravel, and when they do, uncomfortable only touches the surface of how the events between Lisa and Luke feel. At first, Luke seems like a good person, despite the evil place he works at.
When Lisa continues climbing up the ladder, Luke keeps trying to climb himself but falls continually. When frustrated with not getting anywhere, Luke's true colors emerge.
The film asks a lot from its performers, and they deliver. Phoebe Dynevor must be reserved and explosive. When things go completely awry, Dynevor has to pretend to keep her composure, all while not trying to snap. She must be strong but not too strong. Lisa has to survive in a male-dominated environment while keeping her cool when belittled for being a woman. It's a performance that requires more than just shouts and tears.
Alden Ehrenreich is asked to be the emotional male in a world that still sees women as the "crazy" ones. He's asked to have the most explosive moments of the film, which are impressive but not as remarkable as Phoebe Dynevor's quieter instances. If there's a small complaint to be had is that the film gets a little too over the top in the end.
The drama reaches such a boiling point it feels over-dramatized. Much of everything leading to before that moment (including the office meltdowns) feels believable. The proposal scene feels like a very real and awkward moment. So does the toxic work environment of the financial firm our two main characters work at.
The final explosive moment just took things a few hairs too far to invest me in its biting commentary about men dominating women. It's a small complaint for an otherwise thrilling character study about competitive male-dominated work environments destroying personal relationships. Fair Play is a nail-biting social commentary that doesn't lose its edge until the screen cuts to black.
