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There is no merit in this film. Christopher Walken, Jonathan Pryce, and Adrien Brody all offer up their signature styles, which are the only saving graces of the film. Hillary Swank reveals her 90210 roots with a vengeance. We might as well be watching Neve Campbell on the screen for all her forced tears.

The single most deadly thing about the film, aside from its leaden direction, is its insistence on connecting its historical source with the French Revolution. We are to believe that Valois "toppled a monarchy". The whole movie is like that, standing on its toes to be more important than it is.

Do not go see this movie.

At the NY Film Festival's Q&A with Breillat, she expressly forbid seeing "Fat Girl" (as she prefers to call it) as a morality play. She eluded any attempts to draw her into conclusions about her film, insisting that she is not a moralist.

What is clear from the questions she asks, however, is that she views sex with a certain contempt, especially as regards the male role in the act. The men that are in the film are either insensitive, duplicitous or murderous. Breillat's intent is to show how adrift any adolescent girl is when it comes to sexuality and to somehow convey that to an adult audience. She counseled young Anais during filming by saying, "We are making a film that I don't even think you can see when it is done, but it is not for you. It is supposed to scare adults."

AI has nothing to do with Stanley Kubrick. Had we not known the film's lineage, no one would even mention the dead fellow's name in connection with this dung heap of a film.

AI barely has anything to do with Spielberg. It's middle part looks more like Joel Schumacher's torturous Batman films than anything else. More often than not, Spielberg offers limpid imitations of the very cliches which he created.