Reviewed by Drew Ninnis
Director: Agnès Jaoui
Screenplay: Jean-Pierre Bacri, Agnès Jaoui
Runtime: 112 minutes
Cast: Agathe Bonitzer, Agnès Jaoui, Arthur Dupont, Jean-Pierre Bacri
Trailer: “Girl's totally nuts.” (warning: in this film, she is not alone)
Viewed as part of the Alliance Française Film Festival, 2014.
Plot: This fairytale failure tells of rich, entitled princess Laura who finds the man of her dreams at the most unconvincingly staged of parties. She is serenaded by Prince Charming, until bad boy stand-in Maxime Wolf (!) seduces and discards our heroine. Will she find true love and happiness? Yes. Other characters exist in inane sub-plots such as: a) man is told date of death by psychic, and is paranoid; b) divorcee tries to stage fairytale play at kindergarten she runs; c) kingdom is likely to be taken away through legal action; d) hopeless driver is being taught to drive; e) bachelor struggles to live with new girlfriend and her two children … my spirit drains even having to recount this tasteless spaghetti of a film.
Review: Please summon the authorities, a crime has been committed. One hundred and twelve minutes have been stolen from my life, with no hope of recovery. Fellow citizens, be cautious when even pronouncing the name Au bout du conte; lest you suddenly, inexplicably find yourself sitting in a darkened theatre as the credits roll, wondering where it all went, and how you ended up being figuratively prodded with a wet dish rag for two hours. If this film were a failed business, Jaoui and Bacri would be banned from commerce for at least five years; sadly, no similar public safety measures have yet been implemented for films of this calibre.
I’d hate to leave you with the impression that this is a bad film; it is not. Bad films can be interesting and entertaining, often despite themselves. Sometimes they can even be a lesson; or an insight into the psychological state of those who made them. This film is just dull. Dull, dull, dull. Those updated takes on classic fables are here, shoehorned in to make a giant rat-king of fairytale plot and begging the audience to please, just end its suffering.
The key dangers when updating these stories to a modern context? Clichés and a too literal interpretation. Au bout du conte runs into those mines like sheep being driven over the Uzbek border. The performances? I started to believe that the only thing keeping Jean-Pierre Bacri’s corpse alive was the life force that was visibly draining from his fellow actors. The use of imagery and symbolism? The Monument to Joe Lewis is lighter.
Look, life is short. Stop reading this review and don’t think a single thought about this film again, ever. Go outside; hug your loved ones (what are they all doing outside?); watch a sunset; catch up with an old friend. As an act of defiance in the face of bland, under-done, characterless films like Au bout du conte treasure that two hours of life I’ve just liberated for you. I’ll do my bit by making the final paragraph of this review consist of the word “dull” over and over again. You’re welcome.
Dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, dull.
Rating: Zero. This is not a film, this is a cunning assault on the hope for meaning within life.