Blanc’s nutty comedy misses the mark.
Going on vacation can sometimes be a very liberating experience-sometimes a tad too liberating. The French, – notorious for being blunt about their infidel ways is the subject of Michel Blanc newest film which offers a great ensemble for a wry comedy about a bunch of people who bring the chaos of city life and whacked out personalities into their vacation time.
Leading the pack of mangled relationships and adulterous affairs are the aged couple of Elisabeth (Charlotte Rampling-Under the Sand) and Bertrand (Jacques Dutronc-Merci pour le chocolat) as a couple who have layers between them, a young wanna-be porn star Emilie (Lou Doillon-Carrément à l’Ouest), the master and servant relationship of Lulu (Carole Bouquet-Lucie Aubrac) and Jean Pierre (Michel Blanc-Il Monstro) and finally a wife named Véronique (Karin Viard-Reines d’un jour) who drives her husband to a botched suicide. The film sees a bunch of conjoined exchanges between couples vacationing at a beach resort-one thing leads to another and basically all hell breaks loose.
Rather than slices of life with comedic undertones, Blanc gives us an uncompassionate film garnished with caricatured portraits of characters that are far from being likable; you almost kind of hope that a gun would find its way into the narrative to do away with some of these people. The presence of a Rampling or Bouquet or the younger more vibrant cast don’t give the raw certitude that is needed for the film, surprisingly Viard’s performance as a neurotic wife is more entertaining than annoying.
Embrassez Qui Vous Voudrez never abandons the un-atmospheric shallowness that all the personas bring to the screen-with no resolutions on the horizon; it becomes a redundant tale featuring a bunch of ugly fools running around with long knives. Ultimately, Blanc’s comedy becomes harder to watch and by the film’s end you’ll be wishing for the mercy of the theatre manager to somehow rush the projection of the film.
Viewed in French with English subtitles.
