Rachel Weisz has played sexy women of a certain age before, pretty much since she became a sexy woman of a certain age herself. She’s one of those actors who seems keenly interested in exploring the subject of sexuality in their work. But I’ve never seen her come at it from quite this angle before. Her narrator character isn’t steely or commanding, she isn’t repressed and ready to explode — she’s just kind of some dude, really. She’s attractive and intelligent but awkward and insecure about her age. She’s no stranger being on either end of an affair, but seemingly unable to conceive of herself as having another one, until now anyway. 

All of the professor’s sexual energy is right near the surface, and it’s up to Weisz, Jonas’s script, and the camera of directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini to capture and convey that. It’s in the way she objectifies Vladimir, devouring him with her eyes as reflected in closeups on individual body parts. It’s in the frank way she describes her and John’s past, coupled with the nervous way she handles her interactions with Vladimir — that disconnect exists because she’s powerfully attracted to this guy, it’s not some now-dulled memory. 

It’s Weisz’s job to make you wonder whether she’ll give in and kiss this guy at any given moment, or run away screaming. It probably goes without saying that she succeeds, but I’ll say it anyway. Weisz is a fascinating and very funny actress; she was a scream in her dual roles as the Mantle twins in Alice Birch’s Dead Ringers remake, as dark as that material got, and a generation of moviegoers still remember her light touch as the heroine of The Mummy. 

Vladimir makes Weisz’s professor a comical character, having her giggle nervously when he mentions his quads and lie about how much everyone loves her salad and so forth. But it also spares none of the actors smoldering sexuality, thanks to her frank voiceovers and hot blink-and-you’ll-miss-them fantasy visions. The combination/contrast is such a smart and novel choice, on everyone’s part. Even the Ferris Bueller fourth wall breaking, a real break from the norm on TV, works because Weisz’s performance and Jonas’s writing are both charming and unpredictable. Cutting, provocative, laught-out-loud funny, and horny as hell? It’s gonna be a good semester.

I’m covering the college-campus sex comedy Vladimir for Decider, starting with my review of the series premiere. It’s terrific!