A single man (on the road)

This weekend I saw two movies I wanted to see since I've read they were filming them. First was an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's chilling nightmare, The road. By coincidence, I finished reading the book exactly a year ago. I have to admit that even though the book adaptations normally cannot match the corresponding literary works, in this case the movie is actually quite well made and satisfying. The world is still bleak and barren, there is clearly no normal life ahead for the characters, yet the movie actually feels a little bit optimistic. Last year, after I finished the book, I was truly devastated.
Yesterday I went to see A single man, a directorial debut of Tom Ford, a former chief designer for Gucci. He adapted a 1964 novel by Christopher Isherwood. Unfortunately, I haven't read the book so I cannot make any comparisons, but the movie really stands well by its own as a story of an aging gay man. George Falconer, a university professor, lost his partner of 16 years in a car accident. Colin Firth is so believable and real, it's heartbreaking. Julianne Moore as his longtime friend is also great. Jon Kortajarena, a Basque übermodel, plays a male prostitute and he is surprisingly good as well. Unfortunately, the young student that flirts with Falconer was not well chosen, IMHO. He is just too pretty. Overall though, this film is spectacular, the interior designs, the clothes, the changing colours during the time-course of the movie are perfect... well done.