Film

French Exit – 5 Stars

Odd, charming and immensely lovable, French Exit is a triumph

Frances Price (Michelle Pfeiffer) is a Manhattan socialite known as much for her acerbic wit and unusual antics as she is for the rumor that she murdered her late husband. Her expensive taste is challenged, however, when her inheritance dwindles to almost nothing.

Faced with the prospect of poverty, Frances sells what she can and ups and leaves the city, travelling with her son Malcolm (Lucas Hedges) and her cat to a friend’s apartment in Paris. There, she seems intent on whiling away what’s left of her inheritance before eventually killing herself when the money runs out.

Directed by Azazel Jacobs, French Exit is undoubtedly a polarising fi lm. There’s no question this movie won’t be for everyone, with it’s slow pace, it’s ad hoc indulgence in the surreal and strange, and it’s Wes Anderson-esque humor.

At the same time, however, for every viewer who can’t stand it’s style, they’ll be another so in love with it as to forgive the storytelling fl aws in favour of what is a cohesive and engaging vibe.

The most impressive thing about this fi lm is without a doubt Pfeiff er’s performance. Acerbic, antagonistic, utterly classy, and truly aloof, Pfeiff er’s Frances Price is a blend of drug-addled swaying a la Jack Sparrow, Miranda Priestly-esque one liners, and a wardrobe that screams colour blocked French Fashion Week haul.

It’s a character one could be utterly obsessed with, and it is elevated by a performance from Pfeiff er that screams her talent from the rooftop–one that makes the Oscar snub a truly abhorrent occurrence.

Hedges performs admirably too, bringing an disquieting strangeness, stillness and acceptance to his character that counterbalances Frances’ wilder impulses. The rest of the cast then starts to take on less complex, more one-dimensional characters–Madame Reynard (Valerie Mahaff ey) is the overbearing, lonely widower,

Madeleine (Danielle Macdonald) is the strange, street urchin medium, and Susan (Imogen Poots) is the commitment-seeking adorer of Malcolm. Alas, all of their performances are entirely outstripped and overshadowed by Pfeiff er’s, for better or worse.

There’s a peculiar and intriguing colouring to the picture, and sense of cinematography, that almost begins to mimic some of Wes Anderson’s pieces. That’s not a bad thing, because while the fi rst 40 minutes of the fi lm are relatively standard storywise, the back half of the picture truly takes on an absurdist lens–a talking cat, and odd bunch dynamic in the fl at, and the fi nal stroll from Frances, all have Anderson-esque overtones. It is also an engagingly funny fi lm, and there are genuine laugh out loud moments strewn throughout.

This isn’t a movie for everyone, but for those with the taste for great scriptwriting, a showstopping performance from Michelle Pfeiff er, and slightly absurdist and witty comedy, this could be the movie of the year. French Exit is unapologetically niche, but undeniably a gorgeous, hilarious and engaging piece of cinema.

Reviews by Jacob Richardson Creative Director | Film Focus www.filmfocusau.com

Godzilla Vs Kong – 2 Stars

Giant monsters fi ghting each other is let down by the hamfi sted human stories interspersed throughout

Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) is a scientist in charge of working with King Kong. They have him trapped on his island for his own safety, afraid that when Godzilla discovers there is another Titan on Earth, he will rip Kong to shreds.

Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgard), at the behest of an evil conglomerate led by Walter Simmons (Demian Bichir), convinces Ilene to bring Kong to Antarctica in pursuit of the Hollow Earth–a cavernous, monster-fi lled space in the middle of our Earth where Kong came from.

Their movement attracts the wrong kind of attention however, and it puts Godzilla on their tails. As Godzilla and Kong duke it out in the ocean, Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown), Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry) and Josh Valentine (Julian Dennison) are hot on the trail of a tech creation in Hong Kong–Mecha Godzilla is here, and draws the ire and rampage of both Titans.

The easiest thing to cover off about Godzilla vs Kong is what it does well–which is exactly what it says on the cover. The handful of fi ghts between Godzilla and Kong in this fi lm are great; giant spectacles that feel bodily, destructive and brutal.

There’s a lot of fun to be had despite the shaky physics, the ridiculous workarounds to make Kong remotely a match for Godzilla, and the seemingly constantly shifting size. When these guys duke it out, it feels visceral, and you’re sitting up in your seat loving every second.

It’s a shame, then, that this movie takes 40 minutes to get to any of that. The craziest thing about this fi lm is how insistent they are on slogging through the most laborious plotting and workarounds to get these two Titans to fi ght one another.

It feels like someone should have sat down with them at the start and just said “No one cares–make the monkey fi ght the lizard”. Instead, we get endless exposition about another evil tech company, massive logic leaps, a ridiculous C-plot around the Hollow Earth theory, and ever more garbage dumped on us. You’re slogging for most of the movie through something that, without the monster fi ghts, would be unwatchable.

Then you’ve got the people. This franchise has always struggled with the human element of these stories–ever since the 2014 Godzilla. This fi lm is another level though. We don’t care one ounce about any of the characters here. Dennison is unwatchable, Tyree Henry is laden with one of the shittiest characters ever written (by someone who maybe once heard at a great distance what a podcast is).

Millie Bobby Brown eviscerates any acting bonafi des her time on Stranger Things gave her, Eiza Gonzalez does nothing with the most cliche character of the fi lm, and even Alexander Skarsgaard is phoning it in here. Only Rebecca Hall brings any credibility to her role, but then again it could just be that she seems competent when compared to an entire cast that seems to be coasting through in the lowest gear just for the paycheck.

Nothing can save this actioner from the bland betrayal of its human elements–not even these two Titans ripping each other apart. Godzilla Vs Kong is a disappointing romp.

Reviews by Jacob Richardson Creative Director | Film Focus www.filmfocusau.com