French Exit
A glorious performance from its leading lady is the best thing about 2020's French Exit a labored and pretentious comedy where impeccable attention to production values doesn't disguise leaden direction and a meandering and often confusing screenplay.
Three-time Oscar nominee Michelle Pfeiffer knocks it out of the park as Frances Price, an eccentric and glamorously aging Manhattan socialite who is going through the last of her inheritance and has decided the solution to her problems is to move to Paris with her son, Malcolm (Lucas Hedges) and their cat.
Screenwriter Patrick Dewitt actually could have used some assistance adapting his own novel to the screen because despite a relatively solid premise and interesting lead characters, this film has no discernible plot, just a series of vignettes with bizarre characters that, for reasons that aren't really explained, all end up together in Frances and Malcolm's apartment seeking comfort, confronting demons, and forcing relationships that just aren't meant to be. This oddly disparate group of characters who cross Frances and Malcolm's path includes a detective Frances hires to find the cat when he runs away, a bitchy overweight medium who Malcom meets on the cruise to Paris, and Malcolm's fiancee (Imogen Poots), who Malcolm walked out on to go to Paris, but she shows up there anyway with her new boyfriend.
The confusing screenplay is impossible to keep up with and parts are just hard to swallow, thanks to an absurdist theater sensibility to the proceedings. Frances has supposedly moved to Paris because she's broke, but upon her arrival, starts giving what little money she has left away. It's also revealed that she is either suicidal or dying, but it's never made clear which. She and her son are polar opposites...Frances speaks and acts without filter and Malcom keeps everything he's feeling bottled up until the end of the second act. The final straw in terms of credibility came for this reviewer when it's revealed that Frances' husband and Malcolm's father are supposedly inside the cat and then his voice is heard coming out of a candle during a seance.
Director Azazel Jacobs provides interesting camera work and makes Paris look like the most beautiful city in the world, which sometimes distracts from the confusing story. Michelle Pfeiffer's deliciously unhinged performance as Frances is riveting and earned her a Golden Globe nomination, but it's not enough to make this film the rich experience it was meant to be.
A glorious performance from its leading lady is the best thing about 2020's French Exit a labored and pretentious comedy where impeccable attention to production values doesn't disguise leaden direction and a meandering and often confusing screenplay.
Three-time Oscar nominee Michelle Pfeiffer knocks it out of the park as Frances Price, an eccentric and glamorously aging Manhattan socialite who is going through the last of her inheritance and has decided the solution to her problems is to move to Paris with her son, Malcolm (Lucas Hedges) and their cat.
Screenwriter Patrick Dewitt actually could have used some assistance adapting his own novel to the screen because despite a relatively solid premise and interesting lead characters, this film has no discernible plot, just a series of vignettes with bizarre characters that, for reasons that aren't really explained, all end up together in Frances and Malcolm's apartment seeking comfort, confronting demons, and forcing relationships that just aren't meant to be. This oddly disparate group of characters who cross Frances and Malcolm's path includes a detective Frances hires to find the cat when he runs away, a bitchy overweight medium who Malcom meets on the cruise to Paris, and Malcolm's fiancee (Imogen Poots), who Malcolm walked out on to go to Paris, but she shows up there anyway with her new boyfriend.
The confusing screenplay is impossible to keep up with and parts are just hard to swallow, thanks to an absurdist theater sensibility to the proceedings. Frances has supposedly moved to Paris because she's broke, but upon her arrival, starts giving what little money she has left away. It's also revealed that she is either suicidal or dying, but it's never made clear which. She and her son are polar opposites...Frances speaks and acts without filter and Malcom keeps everything he's feeling bottled up until the end of the second act. The final straw in terms of credibility came for this reviewer when it's revealed that Frances' husband and Malcolm's father are supposedly inside the cat and then his voice is heard coming out of a candle during a seance.
Director Azazel Jacobs provides interesting camera work and makes Paris look like the most beautiful city in the world, which sometimes distracts from the confusing story. Michelle Pfeiffer's deliciously unhinged performance as Frances is riveting and earned her a Golden Globe nomination, but it's not enough to make this film the rich experience it was meant to be.
Last edited by Gideon58; 06-26-23 at 12:13 AM.