FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1997. All Rights Reserved.
Although this film was nominated for a swack of the French equivalent to the Oscars, its success won't likely transfer to this side of the Atlantic. My North American colors come out as the film seems 20 minutes too long and doesn't offer nearly enough spice to make up for that dragging time.The story starts out on a nice, simple path, with interesting characters. Nelly (Emanuelle Beart) is a young woman with a lazy husband, whom she leaves once she is given enough money by an older man named Monsieur Arnaud (Michel Serrault) to get out of debt. He also offers her a job typing his memoirs, but things quickly get convoluted as too many extraneous characters, who are never really developed, are thrown into the story. There's an ex-lover here, a swindled businessman there, and even an estranged daughter. Their appearances take away more from the film than they add to it - you constantly think these people will lead to something, but are only disappointed when they don't.
While all of these characters are coming and going, only the title characters can really be enjoyed. Serrault is given some great lines; the script certainly does the most for his character. And aside from Beart's attempt at typing - she looks like she confused the computer keyboard with a piano - she does a pretty good job at holding focus throughout this otherwise long, long story. Unfortunately, the two characters are not enough to cover for the duration or monotony of the film. It's one of those movies that you feel you should like, but when it comes right down to it, you can't think of any reasons to do so.
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