Oscar winning writer and director Paul Haggis moves back to multiple narrative territory as he did for gong magnet Crash, with this melodramatic trio of tales, featuring several big name actors.
The most intriguing is probably successful but faded writer Liam Neeson's May/September romance with Olivia Wilde; as they constantly play mind games with each other while he attempts to finish his novel in Paris. Less so in Rome, where Adrien Brody meets a mysterious Italian woman seemingly in need of help, while on a business trip. Finally, In New York, Mila Kunis struggles to regain custody of her son from estranged former partner James Franco after she's accused of attempting to hurt him.
Haggis is a dab hand at setting up everyday characters in extenuating circumstances and leading you somewhere possibly murky. While the ensemble nature of Crash worked in part because of the set location (LA), here he's hamstrung by his own ambitions as he struggles to juggle the three stories coherently while keeping the viewer's attention.
Haggis has some solid players to move around here; Franco's role is disconcertingly small, but Kunis manages to shine as a desperate Mother - ably backed up by Mario Bello. But the hints to what Kunis' character is in trouble for soon become tiresome and despite her strong performance, the story runs out of steam just as it's getting heavy.
Even weaker is Brody's Italian tale, where he struggles to engage. We're left guessing as to whether or not his far fetched predicament is a set-up, but after a while you start wishing Haggis would leave Rome entirely and instead focus on Neeson and Wilde's fascinating, seemingly toxic relationship.
It's there where the film is ultimately watchable, with Haggis enjoying himself as his two sparring stars spark off each other despite the age gap.
Alas, it's not good enough to save Third Person. An ambitious, but ultimately tedious effort from a talented filmmaker who mostly wastes an excellent cast.