ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ

Imagine the sexually-charged verbal jousting of Before Sunset without the hippy optimism, and you'll know what to expect from Conversations With Other Women. Aaron Eckhart and Helena Bonham Carter are lovers in a story that comes at you from all angles, quite literally, as indie helmer Hans Canosa employs split-screen from first glance to final curtain. The approach can be distracting, but thankfully the sharp writing and easy rapport between the leads keeps this conversation flowing.

Pretensions extend to naming the lovers simply as 'Man' and 'Woman', although Canosa allows himself only the one clichΓ© of having their paths cross at a wedding. Needless to say these forlorn 40-somethings are somewhat cynical about the institution of marriage, yet as the tΓͺte-Γ -tΓͺte unfolds it's revealed that they too were once young and in love - with each other. They rekindle the flame, but with some urgency as She is booked on a 6am flight to London where hubbie awaits.

"A GENTLY BUBBLING CHEMISTRY"

Occasional flashes of the past play side-by-side with awkward pauses and wistful glances in the present. As well as shedding light on His and Her repressed passions, those snapshots bring warmth and poignancy to moments where a mood of cool pragmatism (regarding their modified attitudes to love and sex) threatens to overwhelm the story. At other times though, Canosa shoots the same action from two different angles and that's when the device can feel superfluous and disaffecting. It falls to Eckhart and Bonham Carter to hold the screen, which they do, with a gently bubbling chemistry. Ultimately this makes for a night to remember - albeit only for a week or two.

Conversations With Other Women is released in UK cinemas on Friday 18th May 2007.