Annette

Well, how to begin? This is a musical drama directed by Leos Carax, starring Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver. It was written by the musicians Ron and Russell Mael, of Sparks fame (?) and.....it's proper hard yakka to watch. 

I'll try to open this with the positives. I would watch Marion Cotillard in a remake of the worst film of all time, Grease, so there's a free hit right there. But even she can't save this. Driver is suitably moody and prowly, but he's also fighting a losing battle. Some of the music isn't too bad, coming from the Maels' years of song-writing experience. But again, not quite enough. And a creepy wooden baby? Sure, why not? But....you get the drift.

The key problem for me is the medium of the message. Annette has a pretty mundane story, neither here nor there as far as plots go, about a couple who find their careers heading in different directions, leading to emotional misadventure. Hello, A Star is Born, good evening The Artist. In 'swinging for the fences' (as I think baseball fans might say), attempting a sideways look at the presentation, Ron, Russell and Leos have over-egged the pudding. The pretentiousness seeps out of every pore, as does the boredom, and that's the biggest fault. I can tolerate pretentiousness and wackiness. I can even tolerate boredom. But a marriage of the two? Have away with ye.

Annette opens at the Luna and Palace cinemas on Aug 26th. 

See also (or instead of):

After a great musical? Look no further than Bob Fosse's Cabaret (1972) or one of the Astaire/Rogers efforts - Swing Time (1936), directed by George Stevens, might be their best.

SHORT POD BELOW.