Ricky

I do not think I have ever in my life seen such a bland movie. To watch 90 minutes and wait and even more the wait. Time goes by and I am still waiting for a logical explanation as to why this film was created. But there is no explanation and suddenly it was over.

I've seen thousands movies in my life.

But honestly this movie is the worst.

I have given the film a rating of 1 as it is not possible to give the film less and in reality the film is not suitable to get any numbers at all.

In fact, the film is so meaningless that it should not have existed at all.

I saw this today as part of the Alliance Francais film festival in Brisbane.

While not Ozon's best effort (for me Swimming Pool remains his masterpiece) this is an intriguing whimsical story with disturbing undertones of obsession and sibling rivalry.

The story really makes most sense when considered from Lisa's point of view (a powerhouse performance by the young actress here). I took the fantasy aspect of the story to be a metaphorical expression of integrating new members into a tightly knit family of two (and not just Ricky either). This magical realism is very strongly grounded in the emotions of the characters and this is what gives the movie impact in spite of its imperfections. Ozon likes operating on the boundary of fact/fiction mind/reality, and takes huge gambles here which don't always come off--but in the moments they do the film is very satisfying.

This is not a real review, it should be taken more as a collection of impressions on the film.

So, this film is without a doubt particular and also very strange, but I can't understand its moral, I can't understand what it wants to convey because if it wants to convey love and the desire for freedom it doesn't succeed so well. We also need to talk about the choices of the characters in the film because the film progresses to the sound of very forced wrong choices by all the characters and this becomes a little tiring in the long run throughout the course of the film. So in summary the film is also entertaining, but given that the film wants to be deep and pretentious we must also evaluate the fact that everything that leads to the final moral is very forced and without the slightest sense.

I have rarely expected so much from a film but got so little. This was my experience with "Ricky". After all, it's a story about a baby who sprouts wings--and so it's a comedy, right?! Well, no...there really isn't anything funny or even magical about the movie and I thoroughly hated the movie.

The film begins with a single mom, Katie, and her obviously ignored and depressed daughter, Lisa. Lisa's needs or welfare NEVER seem to matter to Katie and often Katie just does whatever she wants. She sees a nice looking guy at work...she has sex with him in a bathroom stall. She has a daughter to pick up at school...she shows up much, much later than she said and the kid just has to wait. She decides to actually DATE the man she had sex with in the stall, she runs off to do this and you assume the kid is with a sitter or at home alone. Later, mom brings the guy home and they screw again--and it's very loud and the kid is forced to hear it all. The next day, the kid sees mom and her latest passion having breakfast and you have no idea how this will impact the child. Most animals seem to have more on the ball regarding parenting than this woman! Look, I am not anti-sex--but there is a reasonable time and place and being responsible sure ain't important to this couple. Later, they create a boy--and the guy runs off for a while. Call me old fashioned if you like, but I didn't think much of this parenting style.

So, at this point, I assumed that when Ricky, the baby, sprouts wings that the parents will FINALLY grow up and there will be some meaning to all of this or some needed personal growth. Nope. Apparently there is no message. Mom, true to form, misplaces Ricky and the film soon ends. Apparently, the baby's needs, like his sister's really don't matter. But at least mom feels inexplicably inspired.

Why do others like this film? All I know is that I couldn't relate to it or enjoy it at all. It's a waste of an interesting idea, that's for sure. And, it really annoyed me.

I realize that some Ozon fans are disappointed by the outcome of this project, as can be seen by another review here on IMDb also. I do understand that some might feel that Ozon should have better stick to what he was doing. But I think he did a very good job here. Behind all the "normality" of the movie, there lies an ambiguity. The movie deals with loss or better how people react to loss.

Loss of material things, emotional loss and of course other losses too. That's what I felt watching it, but I can also tell, that some people might have gotten a completely different vibe from the movie. And that is what makes it special. It might not be his best movie (I haven't watched all his movies), but it is pretty good. Especially since it disguises itself as normal movie ... well as normal as an Ozon movie can be of course.