Kings and Queen (2005)

I have no idea what to think about Arnaud Desplechin. By my count, he has to his credit one near-masterpiece and two baffling intellectual marathons. (I have yet to see either Playing "In the Company of Men" or La Sentinelle.) This, his latest film, could be seen as his previous My Sex Life... Or How I Got Into an Argument reconfigured for the mid-life crisis years. So if you've seen that previous film, you know pretty much what you're getting here -- a wildly fluctuating tone, a discursive non-plot, lots of little character moments and philosophical musings, flashes of brilliance, flashes of tedium, flashes of underdevelopment and some of the best damn acting French cinema has to offer. Desplechin's secret strength is his talent with actors and his healthy working relationship with Mathieu Amalric and Emmanuelle Devos (both of whom, IMO, rank among France's best and brightest thespians). It's usually through his performers that we get to like the characters, since (as Theo says) Desplechin is probably the most unsentimental director working today, and this film is no exception, as the quirks and baggage that the actors bring to their characters fills in the emotional gaps deliberately left by the director. (Magalie Woch is goin' places. Mark my words.) Amusing, epic, often quite lovely; still left me confused and unfulfilled, though. Maybe I'm just not sophisticated enough...

Grade: C+