Circle of Two (1980) Reviews

Director Jules Dassin, once shunned by Hollywood for being accused of "un-American activities," had already worked for nearly thirty years in Europe before making this Canadian drama about an elderly painter and a sixteen-year-old teen. Richard Burton delivers as a convincingly up-tight artist abandoned by his muse for the last ten years. After he meets Sarah (Tatum O'Neal on the wan from her 1973 Oscar as "Best Supporting Actress"), the muse begins to stir once more. The two disparate souls meet at a soft-core film (Sarah's friends dared her into seeing the flic), and an uneasy, non-sexual relationship starts. But even though the artist discovers that his muse is not totally defunct, that is a difficult trade-off for dealing with Sarah's romantic inclinations. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi