Sarah's Key (2010, France)

My book club read this novel for August, so we decided to get together and watch the movie too. I think every single one of us was disappointed. We all felt that it was very disjointed, and we wouldn't have known what was going on if we hadn't read the book. The only person who hadn't read more than the first few chapters verified our reaction. With a novel of relatively short length and few characters, there really wasn't any reason for it to be so hard to follow.

It was also painfully unemotional. The book was moving, but the movie felt perfunctory. The only moment when I felt anything was when Sarah opened the closet. My heart nearly broke at the amount of emotion the young actress conveyed. However, with the magnitude of the story unfolding, other moments should have been heartbreaking too—particularly in the Vel' d'Hiv, in Drancy, at the Dufaure's... I could go on.

Kristin Scott Thomas wasn't bad, but honestly I got sick of her. Even though a majority of the novel also follows Julia, here it just felt too much. This was especially true because both of the actresses who played Sarah (as a child and as a young woman) were phenomenal. The best way I can think to describe both of them is "arresting" or perhaps "captivating." I was very surprised to see that the adult Sarah, Charlotte Poutrel, only has one other small credit to her name. Maybe she's not a great actress when she starts speaking, but her silence and the expressiveness of her eyes were enthralling.

Anyway, I probably wouldn't recommend this one, though I'd definitely recommend the book.

Rating: 2.5

The Valet / La Doublure (2006, France)

How very French. A wealthy man is cheating on his wife (a majority shareholder in his company) with a supermodel. A valet proposes to his girlfriend, and she says no. And then the wealthy man hires the valet to pretend to be with the supermodel, in order to fool the wife.

It was really rather entertaining, as only a comedy of errors—and a French film—can be. All of the characters are very well developed and continue to develop throughout the film. However the "happily ever after" just doesn't work out in a way that makes any sense, which rather killed the movie for me.

The score was composed by Alexandre Desplat, who is one of my favorite composers. Strangely, I believe this is the first French film I've seen that he's composed the score for. But it was truly wonderful. Very upbeat and great fun.

Also, I'm getting quite fond of Gad Elmaleh. I need to see some more of his work.

Rating: 3.0

Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009, U.S.)

I never would have watched this on my own, because I knew I was going to hate it. They were showing it on the airplane, however, so I decided to watch it to kill time. Kill is definitely the right word. I want my time back.

The premise is ridiculous. The characters are shallow, and the actors aren't even that great. The jokes are stupid. They all live happily ever after even though they most certainly do not deserve to.

Absolutely, positively awful. Don't watch it. And that's all I have to say.

Rating: 1.5

Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994, UK)

I know everyone is going to be shocked that an Anglophile such as myself is going to say this, but I didn't like this movie. I know it's a classic. I know it's supposed to be great. But it really just didn't do it for me.

The writing was not stellar. There were some funny parts, but mostly it was rather blah. The acting was passable, but not overwhelming. And combining those two elements together, the characters just weren't sympathetic at all. They were all silly and shallow and deserving of their fate.

There were some exceptions. For instance, the gentleman played by Simon Callow was completely lovable, and his plot line was worth watching. But as for Charles and Carrie—forget about it.

I was really disappointed with this.

Rating: 2.0