I went to this movie at the SF Lesbian & Gay film fest because it was billed as a French film by Merchant Ivory productions & I was surprised to have not heard about any theatrical release for it, as I have tended to like their movies in the past. This movie, however, was not actually directed by them (as I found out afterwards while researching before typing this), but by a 1st time US director.
Diane Wiest plays an opera diva from New York who tries to get her son"s (played by Stanislas Merhar) attention & affection while her company is performing in Paris. Her son pays no attention to her whatsoever (though is living in the same house with her) & instead whiles away his time by making prank phone calls to rent boys from the classified ads. Revealing any more of the plot will "spoil" the movie for most, as the movie's raison d'etre is to unravel a few plot twists. The film itself, however, fails to get beyond a pastiche of French Farce. Diane Wiest is never believable as an opera diva, her pouty outbursts are too frequent & predictable. Stansislas Merhar does nothing through out the movie except stand/sit on screen with a dumb expression on his face.
That he would have an American mother & British father, or that they would have such a palatial estate in Paris when she lives in New York, is completely unbelievable. Jane Birkin plays a voice-over actress who obsesses over the actress (Vanessa Redgrave) for whom she did many voice-overs (are British films that screen in France really dubbed? & the same person does all the characters for one actor?). She runs in to Thomas in unfortunate circumstances at her shrink's (Dr. Rey) office & take up together as an unlikely couple. Thomas tries to play her off to his mom as his girlfriend "Linda" whom he apparently talks to her about. However, this is also not very believable, as we never see Thomas even mention her in the film . Jerry Hall, Simon Callow, Bulle Ogier & Vanessa Redgrave all appear in the film (you will probably recognize their faces if you don't immediately recognize their names), but none of these actors does any better with their brief appearances. I found this film to be quite annoying & was quite baffled by the overwhelmingly positive audience response to it (particularly by older viewers). I found it to be rather facile & too self-conscious. For a film to work, it really needs some element to sustain the viewer's disbelief, & this one is absent of any. If you are accustomed to standard American fare, maybe you will find this to be "different" & therefore entertaining. However, if you are used to watching more complex fare (ie. Ozon, Bunuel, Fassbinder) you will find the overacting tiresome & the over-the-top" plot developments to be unfunny & too obviously intentional.
