Reviews Film
www.list.co.uk/film COMEDY/ROMANCE HEARTBREAKER (L’ARNACOEUR) (15) 104min ●●●●●
With Heartbreaker, Romain Duris proves again that he is among the best film actors working today. It’s always a good sign of talent when actors shine no matter the genre, and Duris, who wowed in both Christopher Honore’s Dans Paris and Jacques Audiard’s The Beat that My Heart Skipped, is in fine form in this light-hearted romantic comedy.
The job of his character Alex is fairly ludicrous; he’s paid to break up couples by any means necessary with the help of his flamboyant sister (Julie Ferrier) and her half-wit husband (François Damiens). Alex’s cynical attitude to love is questioned when he’s employed to stop the impending nuptials of Juliette (Vanessa Paradis) to a seemingly perfect Brit (Andrew Lincoln). The Monte Carlo setting and the moments of espionage set up the action as a
pastiche of James Bond, but the movie that director Pascal Chaumeil really wants to pay homage to is Dirty Dancing. There are several suitably kitsch moments once Juliette reveals that the 1987 classic is her favourite movie. The only real misstep is a side-story, which has Alex owe money to some thugs. Nonetheless, sentimental souls may just have the time of their lives. (Kaleem Aftab) ■ Selected release from Fri 2 Jul. See feature, page 24.
ROMANCE WHEN IN ROME (PG) 87min ●●●●●
A potentially fluffy romantic fantasy is stretched far beyond breaking point in Ghost Rider writer/director Mark Steven Johnson’s When In Rome, in which career-fixated, romantically unlucky New Yorker Beth (Kristen Bell) picks four coins out of a magic fountain in Rome, thereby attracting the attentions of four deeply unsuitable men. With sausage-obsessed
businessman Al (Danny DeVito), pretentious artist Antonio (Will Arnett), magician Lance (Napoleon Dynamite’s Jon Heder) and exhibitionist Gale (Dax Shepard) all in tow, Beth returns to NYC to complete an exhibition at the Guggenheim museum for her boss Celeste (Anjelica Huston), while also finding herself the object of the affections of sincere, hunky Nick (Josh Duhamel). The mind-bogglingly obvious dilemma Beth faces is: which of these men is Mr Right? With the outcome never in question, When in Rome’s running time is given over to excruciatingly contrived slapstick involving an overqualified cast, with Bell and Duhamel striking few sparks and Huston and Don Johnson lazily phoning in their underdeveloped roles. Yet despite unremitting silliness, a jolly end-credits dance number is the only time the cast seem to be enjoying themselves; even in such lightweight fare, wish fulfilment shouldn’t have to be this dull. (Eddie Harrison) ■ General release from Fri 25 Jun.
COMEDY WHATEVER WORKS (12A) 92min ●●●●●
For comedy purists, and particularly aficionados of Jewish humour, there’s something quite delicious about the idea of a Woody Allen and Larry David smackdown. The director of Annie Hall and Manhattan meets the creator/star of Curb Your Enthusiasm, it’s got to be hilarious, right? Well, not quite. The title of Whatever Works almost sounds like Allen’s laissez faire approach to scripting these days, rather than a theory David’s lead character proposes about relationships. David plays Boris, a misanthropic nuclear physicist and self-proclaimed ‘genius’ who lives alone in New York’s Chinatown after splitting from his rich wife. Spending his days teaching chess to children (or ‘inchworms’ as he calls them), his life is suddenly changed when Melody (Evan Rachel Wood) a naïve runaway waif from the Deep South turns up on his doorstep. Against his better judgement, he takes her in, just for one night. One month later, she’s still there – and gradually falling for Boris’ charms (or lack of ).
The first half of the film, with David simply let off the
leash to rail against the humanity, is by far the funnier. Wood, the Eliza Doolittle to David’s Henry Higgins, is the perfect foil, adding just the right amount of sugar to temper Boris’ bitterness. Where the film begins to fall apart, however, is after Allen asks us to take a huge narrative leap of faith when Boris eventually succumbs to Melody and marries her, despite the cavernous difference in age, intellect and outlook on life. At this point we’re introduced to Melody’s mother
(Patricia Clarkson), who has split from her unfaithful husband (Ed Begley Jr) and arrives in the city to find herself. Naturally, she hates Boris but as Allen begins to switch his attentions to her, Whatever Works begins to lose its focus. Given David, who previously appeared in bit parts in Allen’s segment of New York Stories and Radio Days, is the perfect vessel for Allen’s philosophical ramblings, this feels like a criminal waste. It’s not that Whatever Works is bad. It just the second half never delivers on a very promising opening. (James Mottram) ■ Selected release from Fri 25 Jun.
24 Jun–8 Jul 2010 THE LIST 45