Egoyan's 'Chloe' stumbles and falls in the third act

CHLOE — ★★ — Julianne Moore, Amanda Seyfried, Liam Neeson; rated R (vulgarity, sex, profanity, nudity, brief drugs, violence, brief gore); Broadway Centre

"Chloe" is the first film from Atom Egoyan in quite some time that doesn't feel completely icy or clinical.

And it features the best performance seen in any of Armenian filmmaker Egoyan's works in years — a believably vulnerable and desperate turn from the usually dependable Julianne Moore.

Yet it's also sleazy and exploitative, in a way that's akin to Egoyan's earlier movies "Exotica" (1994) and "Where the Truth Lies" (2005). That layer of scuzziness, as well as some ludicrous plotting, eventually drags both Moore and the whole thing down with it.

This remake of the 2003 European thriller "Nathalie" offers a same-sex twist on "Fatal Attraction."

Moore stars as Catherine Stewart, a successful gynecologist who suspects her music professor husband, David (Liam Neeson), has been cheating on her.

But rather than confronting David about his alleged indiscretions, she instead hires an escort, Chloe Sweeney (Amanda Seyfried), to seduce him and then report back to her.

However, as the two women meet in secret, they get closer than either of them anticipated.

Allegedly, some changes were made to the script to accommodate the schedule of Neeson — who had just lost his actress wife, Natasha Richardson, during the film's shoot.

That would explain why his character is so nonexistent and almost seems like an afterthought.

But it doesn't explain the ridiculous, almost laughable third act. You'd swear this nuttiness had sprung from the minds of Hollywood screenwriters and filmmakers rather than someone known for cerebral cinematic tales, like Egoyan and screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson.

Even veteran Moore seems flummoxed by the ending, which should tell you something.

"Chloe" is rated R and features vulgar sexual language and talk (frank sexual discussions, including slang, as well as strong sexual profanity), simulated sex and other sexual contact (both lesbian and straight), full female nudity, brief drug content and references (painkillers and prescription medications), some brief but strong violent content and imagery (brief auto and bicycle mishaps, violence against women and a violent fall), and some brief bloody imagery. Running time: 96 minutes.

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