The Look of Love

The look of The Look of Love is the Burt Bacharach era personified, lit and tinted in all its pretty, hep-cat glory. It's a joy to behold, the visual feast is so delicious. But the film dredges up more questions than it answers, and that nags at the audience. Raymond certainly lived a colorful life, but only a few shades of it are shown here. We see the man with a huge carnal appetite and little regard for jealous partners, but only briefly do we see how his relationships fall apart -- and it's not clear whether that even bothers him. He's apparently a shrewd businessman, building a fortune based on real estate and naked women, but not much of his acumen is on display (and if so, just fleetingly).

And while Raymond clearly loves his daughter, we rarely see him actually parenting her, and he totally neglects his sons. We don't see his battles with the conservative establishment, who deem him a pornographer and want to shut down his clubs. Nor is there much examination of how someone he loves ends up dead from a tragic overdose or how it affects him. There are the makings of a great movie in Raymond's rags-to-riches tale -- the acting is spot-on -- but the depths aren't sufficiently plumbed in The Look of Love. It's mostly about the surface. Or, rather, the look.