>>REVIEW
AVENUE MONTAIGNE
STARRING Cécile de France, Valérie Lemercier, Albert Dupontel, Christopher Thompson, Suzanne Flon and Sydney Pollack
DIRECTED BY Danièle Thompson
Opens Friday, June 1
Uptown Screen
What happened to Paris? Where is the blush that falls across the streets when dawn traces the neck of the Eiffel Tower? Arches and bridges swooning over canals? Rows of town houses reaching for each other across narrow streets, windows brimming with flowers? There is no grand romance or melodrama in the Paris of Avenue Montaigne. Instead, it serves as a backdrop for dullards to bemoan their bourgeoisie suffering.
Inspired by her grandmother’s stories of glitz and glamour, Jessica (Cécile De France) moves to Paris and becomes a waitress at a restaurant frequented by artists and their ilk. Catherine (Valérie Lemercier), the soap opera star slogging through a Feydeau farce in the theatre next door, frets about her career. Jean-François (Albert Dupontel) grows weary of the classical piano concert circuit. Jacques (Claude Brasseur) is an art collector auctioning off his life’s collection. And of course, Sydney Pollack doing his worst Sydney Pollack impression as director Sydney Pollack. Connecting these oh-so burdened artists is their need for sustenance which they take at this restaurant and get occasionally served by Jessica.
Though affairs ensue and marriages fall apart, nothing much happens. Despite De France’s performance, which is so spunky, the word should be etched in whiteout, underlined with a glitter pen and then showered in sparkles. The rest of the cast musters as much quirkiness as possible to convey a low frequency charm (except for Sydney Pollack who is, you know, Sydney Pollack).
Director and co-writer Danièle Thompson attempts to echo the magic of another French film, Amélie, but replaces the wonder and visual verve of that Jean-Pierre Jeunet masterpiece with a whole lot of boredom and distaste for post-modernism.
Part way through the film, Jessica snaps at a grumpy manager. "We all have problems," she intones, "You’re no worse than anyone. You’re not even a pianist or an actor or rich!" A performance of Beethoven heals sick children and causes a woman to forget her love of pop music. Chiding those commoners who have yet to discover the power of high art, Avenue Montaigne has such disdain for the audience. For such a desperate ode to the grandeur of the city’s life, art and culture, the film appears more like a postcard of Paris somebody bought in Regina. |
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