Film Review
Actress Iliana Lolitch makes a creditable directorial debut with this
barbed romantic comedy - a film which provides a long-overdue antidote to the
recent spate of anaemic rom-coms about 30-something professional women
frantically looking for that elusive
amour
fou. Whilst Lolitch's inexperience shows both in her
writing and her overly cautious direction, her first film is
nonetheless an engaging piece that manages to be both irresistibly
funny and truthful in its portrayal of a woman teetering on the brink
of an existential crisis. The film's heroine Adèle -
played with great charm and finesse by Sylvie Testud - is both a parody
and a model of the modern sexually liberated woman, easily mistaken for
Bridget Jones's nymphomaniac alter ego. She is confident, direct
and has absolutely no difficulty attracting men to sleep with her, but
whilst her life is as full as it could be, she remains desperately
unfulfilled. What she needs is old-fashioned romance - but does
such a thing still exist?
There is much to like about this film, but equally there are some
pretty obvious shortcomings. Attention-grabbing performances from
Testud and her photogenic co-star, the instantly likeable Italian actor
Stefano Accorsi, compensate for the film's uneven narrative and
occasional slips into cliché mode, although it is hard to
forgive the slightly botched ending which, hurried and complacent,
fails to provide a satisfactory conclusion to Adèle's frenetic
man-hunting saga. How much more impactful is the earlier sequence
in which Adèle attempts to confront her estranged mother in a
nursing home. So suddenly and dramatically does that scene turn
from sidesplitting comedy to heart-wrenching tragedy that you
can feel the laughter that is halfway up your throat do a quick
about-turn and wallop you in the stomach. With
Je ne dis pas non, Iliana Lolitch
shows promise as a screenwriter and filmmaker, and also provides Sylvie
Testud with one of her most perfectly well-matched roles, one that
makes good use of her talent for playing seemingly frivolous characters
who are inwardly tormented by the bitter trauma of existence.
© James Travers 2011
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Film Synopsis
Adèle is a 30-something publishing assistant who has one fatal
flaw: she just cannot say no. Everyone takes advantage of her
good nature, her colleagues, her friends, and especially her collection
of boyfriends. Not surprisingly, she is starting to feel
overwhelmed by the demands everyone makes of her. One day, she
meets Matteo, an Italian writer who is in search of inspiration for his
next book. Can Adèle and Matteo offer the solution to each
other's problems...?
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.