Agnes Jaoui and her husband Jean-Pierre Bacri are one of modern French cinema's golden couples. As co-writers, actors and directors they have produced two of the country's most popular films of the decade, The Taste of Others in 2000 and the sublime Look at Me in 2004. Theirs is a sort of modern update on the style fashioned by Eric Rohmer in the 60s and 70s: modern morality plays where irony and humour is never far from the surface.
Their new effort sees them tackle issues of race along with the trials and tribulations of what would once have been called the petit bourgeoisie. Jaoui herself stars as Agathe, an unbearable prig of a woman who decides to forsake her writing career to become a politician. On a visit to her sister in the countryside she is persuaded by a local filmmaker (Bacri) and his second generation cohort (Jamel Debbouze) to take part in a documentary they are making about successful women.
A situation comedy ensues: Agathe gets on with nobody, her boyfriend leaves her, the filmmaker is inept, and issues of adultery and race are crowbarred in. It's all quite puzzling, doesn't seem to really know what points it is trying to make, and compared to the previous two films from this couple, seems remarkably unsophisticated.
Nevertheless, despite these inadequacies, the presence of Debbouze - albeit in a seemingly futile sideplot which hints at the racial issues the face modern France - is one of the film's positives. A huge star in his homeland, he delivers a low-key but incredibly subtle and intelligent performance. It can only be a matter of time before he breaks out on the international scene.
Fans of the Jaoui/Bacri partnership may be disappointed, while newcomers may well wonder what all the fuss is about.
Paul Hurley
