Sometimes the Japanese title for a foreign film manages to grasp the very essence of the story and display it with the deft, loving care of a jeweler placing a necklace in a glass case. The Japanese title for "Adore" (previously known as "Two Mothers") is "Utsukushi e no Hokai," which roughly translates as "The Destruction of a Beautiful Image." And that's what "Adore" seems to boil down to.
Lacking much-needed emotional scope and nuance, it presents a gorgeous picture, tells us to worship it and then proceeds to smash it before our eyes.
The two mothers — Roz (Robin Wright) and Lil (Naomi Watts) — have been best friends since childhood, and are neighbors in an idyllic Australian beach town where they've lived most of their lives. Lil is a widow and Roz is married to Harold (wonderfully underplayed by Ben Mendelsohn), who's nice enough, but feeling isolated from his family — Roz and Lil are so tight they may as well be married. And their respective sons, Ian (Xavier Samuel) and Tom (James Frecheville), have been best friends since they were toddlers. When Harold is offered a cushy job in Sydney, he first assumes Roz will go with him, but soon sees that she's not prepared to leave Lil, the house or the boys. Especially the boys.