BOTTOM LINE: The material is bland, and the menace in the story is never satisfactorily exploited, but Chloe is boosted by some fine performances, a haunting musical score and elegantly presented images that create a very moody and dramatic film.

THE GOOD: Although this is the type of story that has been told a million times, Chloe has the virtue of generating a very haunting atmosphere as the story covers Catherine Stewart’s (Julianne Moore) attempt to uncover her husband David’s (Liam Neeson) infidelities by hiring an escort Chloe (Amanda Seyfried) to test his loyalty. From the very beginning, the film has an exquisite quality to it, from the emotional and haunting musical score, to the carefully composed images which are rich with colour and depth, to the very three dimensional performances of its lead actors. The film uses these elements to create a story that starts off in one direction, but then ends up in another. In this respect, Amanda Seyfried shows off her fine acting skills as she turns from a professional and clinical escort in to something more menacing and ultimately sad. Julianne Moore is the centre of this piece, and she carries it with a strong conviction. The scripted motivations may be questionable at times, but she always make you believe it. Overall, Chloe establishes a clearly defined mood that makes for a very strong viewing experience.

THE BAD: This story is far from original; one might even call it clichéd. You almost know exactly how the whole film will play out. To this end, it is quite disappointing that the moments of menace that are hinted at throughout the film, which seem to be building to something climactic, turn out to be decidedly anti-climactic. The filmmakers obviously wanted to do something more subtle so it did not turn in to a “Fatal Attraction” type scenario, but the ending definitely did need some extra punch. The liaison between Catherine and Chloe in the middle of the film is a bit of stretch from a motivational point of view, as Catherine uses Chloe to experience the touch she lost from her husband; seems like a good excuse to get the two girls together on screen rather than presenting something more realistic. Also, Liam Neeson seems oddly misplaced in this film, and he does not appear to be a good match with Julianne Moore, despite his strong screen presence. His character is more or less in the background for most of the film any way which is probably a wise move given this problem.