Reviews

I feel the point of this film, is that none of the characters would be considered 'normal' in the real world. It's a cartoon with humans. To name just a few - An artist totally obsessed with Renoir to the exclusion of everything else in life. A shouty greengrocer with an idiot sidekick. A porn shop assistant who hangs around train stations scraping under photo booths for torn up pictures of strangers. A hypochondriac tobacco saleswoman, and her beau-to-be obsessed with recording his entire day on a portable dictaphone. And then the central character, Amelie, a strange young woman with a little-girl pearlescent complexion which seems to be what catches the high ratings of this film.

I watched the French language version, and have to admit that I did chuckle at a few of the humorous lines in the first half. But the two hours could easily be cut to a forty five minute snapshot of French oddity, and one would come out with a greater sense of satisfaction having seen it.

I'll give a middle-of-the-road vote for its colour, tone, cinematography, and Audrey Tautuo's on screen appeal.

With OB playing the lead role, I was hoping to get a glimpse of his acting prowess in a film that doesn't involve swords, arrows, ugly creatures and fast action camera-work. The first ten minutes started quite well, with possible undertones of some ironic black humour coming up. He gets fired for losing his employer the best part of USD 1 billion. Fair do's ! Then he's on a jumbo jet heading for Kentucky, the only passenger, and the stewardess (KD) tells him with a straight face that he saved all their jobs for being on that flight. Oh Oh ! The alarm bells start ringing. Was that supposed to be serious, or an attempt at humour !! The film then switches to Elizabethtown, and dies completely........

The relationship development between OB and KD is completely nauseating, and so endlessly boring with clichéd dialogue. It goes on and on and on, with no meaningful or interesting word from either of them. I pity both these actors for having to spout the most monotonous and diabolical script I have heard in years.

After an hour and a quarter, I couldn't stand anymore, and switched it off.

A few nights later I returned to the rest of the 2-hour film hoping that it would get going. It just got worse. Susan Sarandon at a sickly American-style funeral party doing a daft little jig on stage, and finally OB's road trip which made me want to tear out teeth.

The bit that bugged me the most, we never find out how OB lost his employer a large wad of cash !! If anybody wants a free DVD, you can have my copy with pleasure, otherwise it's going for a flying lesson out the window !