Tom Ford scores

Tom Ford decorates “A Single Man” into the ideal '60s period piece with pages from Vogue to Godard. Ford is a fashion director turned filmmaker, and he’s a natural at both.

The film follows one day in the life of George (Colin Firth), a professor coping with the death of his homosexual lover. On this day, George has decided to kill himself.

In terms of fashion, George finds such acute detail in clothing, eyes and body parts, and in this obsession lays heartbreak. They are the only things worth seeing in a world full of depression.

Ford’s art direction is spectacular in the way he toys with the lighting and texture of the frame, looking like a magazine spread at best and an episode of “Mad Men” at worst.

Firth’s performance is the best of his career, simultaneously being charming and brooding. His air of cynicism allows “A Single Man” to hit just the right note.

There is a bleak, haunting beauty to Ford’s tragic film. Ford’s message is less pessimistic as it is visionary.