Perfume

Taking on the fashion world- not a difficult thing to portray as far as shallowness and alienation. The only actor who is well used is Michelle Williams, as the disaffected daughter of a vain self-centered NY fashion magazine (or ragazine) editor. Think Helen Gurley Brown, or read the NY Times review of Ms. Brown's take on younger generations (in her case this means at least five) and the selfishness as they don't offer her a seat on a NYC crosstown bus. Good for a few laughs. However, I digress.

Jeff Goldblum is usually very good, but comes off as a whiny unsympathetic player; Harris Yulin is wasted as a fashion maven, who recruits young talent. Paul Sorvino portrays a Versace-like designer, whose partner is Peter Gallagher; unintentionally comical. Sonia Braga is also wasted, as she is not used for more than twenty minutes of the film.

The worst segment by far is the sequence with Mariel Hemingway- ..."you know pashminas are so out now, don't you"?"... some gofer for the fash mag tells her; the tone is affected and the camera angles disturbing.

Narcissism really isn't funny anymore. Now that we have it 24/7 with reality TV and other trash cranked out regularly for the public, the only way to make a film with this subject matter, is something along the lines of "Pret a Porter" (ready to wear) which was utterly stupid, but at least made fun of itself without a futile attempt at cleverness.

The movie was okay. It had weak moments and it had great moments. The cinematography was superb. Perfume was filmed without a script, and the actors did a fine job in ad-libbing. The best part of the film, is the soundtrack. I have been looking everywhere for the film composer and soundtrack. Where can I get this music??? If anyone knows... please post.

I bought this VHS attracted and curious by the beautiful and unknown Estella Warren, highlighted in the cover of the Brazilian VHS, and the long list of famous actors and actresses, including Sonia Braga. However, this movie proves that quantity will never mean quality (only in "IMDb User Rating") – "Perfume" is indeed a boring and shallow movie, with very artificial lines. This crap looks like a sequel of the awful Robert Altman's "Prêt-à-Porter". The characters are not well developed, most of them only appear to give their names to the credits and create expectation of a good movie; the storyline about the world fashion is terrible and ambitious; and the awkward actress Leslie Mann, who plays one of the lead roles, has unpleasant and terrible tone of voice and corporal posture. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Perfume"

I don't know what this movie was supposed to be about. Certainly the notes on the back of the box are, well, not very helpful. Something about the cutthroat fashion industry, I guess. It had potential and it was well acted, if only there was a plot. What a shame and a waste of talent. A great cast, half uncredited on the video box, stuck in a scattered, incohesive mess. Save yourself.

"Perfume" is apparently supposed to be a behind the scenes look at the world of high fashion; designers, models, photographers, gurus, wanabees, divas, dilettantes, etc. all involved in their daily esoteric industry activities in NYC. In spite of an even temperament and a sense of earnestness, this project just proves again that a good cast a good film does not make. A lackluster flick which wanders from one stagey scene to another showing us stammering characters with little depth while leaving us feeling disconnected, "Perfume" is marginally entertaining at best. With no story per se, no one to care about, and no clear insights into the fashion biz, there's little reason to recommend this fragrance. (C)