Casse-tête chinois (2013)
Directed by Cédric Klapisch

Film Review

With Casse-tête chinois (a.k.a. Chinese Puzzle) Cédric Klapisch (hopefully) concludes a trilogy depicting the globe-trotting exploits of his alter ego Xavier Rousseau, a writer on a perpetual quest for fulfilment in his career and love life.  After L'Auberge Espagnole (2002) and Les Poupées russes (2005), this latest Klapisch flight of fancy is distinctly lacking in depth and originality and feels like a tawdry compendium of ideas lifted from American rom-coms of the last twenty years, clumsily cobbled together with a snowstorm of digital effects which soon become distracting and tedious.  Whilst there is some pleasure to be had in seeing Xavier reunited with his old college chums again (for what will almost certainly be the last time), the film soon outstays its welcome and is little more than an embarrassing accumulation of second-hand story ideas and lazy clichés.  Spotting from which films Klapisch 'borrowed' his plot ideas is about the sum total of the film's entertainment value. 

For a director who began his career with such promise, creating a name for himself with such vibrant auteur pieces as Le Péril jeune (1994) and Chacun cherche son chat (1996), Klapisch has taken a spectacular plunge into mediocrity recently, and Casse-tête chinois, his most derivative film so far, merely hastens this descent.  The setting (New York), the plot, the characters - everything about the film is clichéd to Hell, and whilst we once warmed to the gauche egocentricity of Xavier and his friends, now that they have reached middle-age and are as immature as ever we can scarcely help but despise them.  Wendy has turned into a gold-digging opportunist with an exceedingly poor taste in men.  Isabelle has become the ultimate lesbian cliché, doing all the things that clichéd lesbians do, and Xavier is still the irritating, self-loving, self-promoting narcissist he always was.

Not only is Klapisch incapable of creating interesting new characters, he appears singularly incapable of developing his existing characters.  It is this that is the most damning failure of Casse-tête chinois - the fact that not one of the colourful individuals we first met in L'Auberge Espagnole has grown up.  Life's hardships seem to have passed every one of them by and left them as immature, shallow and self-absorbed as ever, just as Klapisch himself has failed to develop and seems forever fated to live off his early success.  Like Norma Desmond, he appears stuck in a self-made mausoleum, basking in past glories and totally oblivious to the fact that the world outside has moved on.  Will we ever again see the Klapisch we once loved and admired?  Only when Xavier and company are dead and buried.

Film Synopsis

Now that he has reached the grand old age of 40, Xavier finds that his life is getting more and more complicated.  The father of two children, his mania for travel has taken him to New York, Chinatown to be precise.   In the midst of a happy confusion, Xavier struggles to find his way in the world, not an easy task when so much is going on around him.  A conventional, well-organised life is something he can only dream of...