Alice

I've never tryed to go with an escort.

Well, this movie inspired me to :-) Very deep, realistic, awesome actress, good story.

Deeply recommended!

Here I am two years on writing a review. A seriously worthy one. This film is hands down one of the most enjoyable movies I've seen in the last two years, and I've seen hundreds.

Having nothing to watch I put this on. I don't speak French so had the chore of handling subtitles throughout it's length. Well it was a roller coaster ride of excitement, suspense, laughter, sadness, awe, disbelief and enjoyment. It was almost perfectly blended into a tight tale of despair, personal growth and becoming.

The screenplay was excellent, as is the direction and general production. The acting is nothing short of superb and the lead. "Emilie Piponnier" should get an Oscar for her performance, or at the very least the French equivalent. To be fair, all the performances are good, and I was totally immersed in this movie to the point where I watched another French film after just to prolong the moment.

Ok its not perfect. One development in the story niggled me as soon as it occurred, and for a film so good I'm surprised the writer chose this avenue for the plot since there were so many other possible scenarios that would have worked more believably and effectively that the one chosen. I'll describe it like this - If I left my husband having found out he was a dirty cop, and I then decided to pull bank jobs to survive or stay financially viable. I am NOT going to ask my husband to babysit my child! Not for any number of excellent reasons the situation presents. That is just asking for trouble, and a little ridiculous if I'm honest. Babysitters are not Truffles and what would otherwise have been absolute perfection was a tad tainted by this development.

Additionally, the sexual encounters in the movie are somewhat... I think 'Cartoonish' is the best way to describe them. I'm not sure if the writer/director has done any real research into high end escorts, but I think they have confused the establishment with one catering for men interested in bondage, or perhaps the 'M' in S&M. The notion that the clientele for high end escorts primarily consist of sexually inept momma's boys with low esteem that all come to fruition at the mere sight of a woman in lingerie is a far stretch from reality, but I'm going to give a little leeway here since some 'poetic license' is needed for the film to work.

In spite of these short comings I'm giving the film 8/10, because, I still enjoyed it so much. Besides, it's fantastic production well worth seeing, and all this coming from a guy who appreciates a good film, but would normally skip a film of this genre and not given it a chance in the normal course of things. Prejudice can be a hindrance to enjoyment.

I almost didn't watch this, especially because it was labeled a drama AND a comedy. The synopsis sounded pretty serious, and if they tried to play it for laughs I probably would not have liked it. But I read the other reviews here that said it was NOT a comedy at all. And they were all right. This movie is not a comedy at all and it the entire film is a (very good) drama.

Alice is a different take on prostitution movies and the three lead actors are all outstanding and all of the supporting roles are excellent. The script, cinematography, editing and production design were top notch. For a movie involving prostitution there's very little explicit sex...I actually think there should have been a little more, since the contrast between being a mother and being a call girl should have been played up a bit more.

One quibble: Alice should have used a nanny service instead of resorting to allowing her awful husband to babysit. In a city as large as Paris, there must be many resources that would not have cost a lot of money that cater to families (and single mothers) that have hectic, weird schedules and need to arrange for babysitting on short notice. Alice's timelines for such arrangements could have been negotiated at the very beginning of her relationships with her management.

But that said, the movie was nicely paced and the characters evolved in a realistic way. The ending was a bit far fetched, but I won't add that to any quibbles, because it was still justified.

Greetings again from the darkness. So much trust goes into a marriage. We try to choose someone we can imagine growing old with, and also whose morals are in line with our own ... especially if raising kids is part of the plan. Of course sometimes things don't work out as hoped, and writer-director Josephine Mackerras shows us what happens when things go horribly wrong - when the person we have trusted is so drastically different than the person we believed them to be.

Alice (Emilie Piponnier) and Francois (Martin Swabey) appear to be a normal wife and husband raising a cute little boy named Jules. Alice is a beautiful and caring person, whose goodness shines through in her smile. Francois is the charming type who recites literary passages at dinner parties before planting a passionate kiss on his wife in front of everyone at the table. One day, Alice's credit card is declined which leads her down the dark trail no one hopes to travel. Francois has maxed out the cards and emptied the bank account. Worse yet, their apartment is nearing foreclosure from lack of payments.

Further research leads Alice to Elegant Escorts and the realization that her beloved husband has been leading a secret double life - one that has left her penniless with a young child. What happens next is quite surprising. Sweet Alice proves to be much tougher than she appears. After some terrible guidance from her mother, Alice takes control of the situation in order to save her home and provide for her son. Her friend and mentor in her new vocation is Lisa (Chloe Boreham), who offers tips and emotional support. This gets her through the clumsy and awkward initial attempts at carrying out her new duties. Soon she believes the plan is working and she'll be able to save her home, but alas, Francois reappears and complicates the situation.

This is the first feature film from Ms. Mackerras and the film is a Grand Jury prize nominee at SXSW. The obvious comparison here is to Louis Bunuel's masterpiece BELLE DE JOUR (1967) starring Catherine Deneuve, with the obvious difference being one character was bored and craved attention, while another was desperate to save her home. Self-discovery plays a role for both. The tagline for this film is: "She did everything right, until it all went wrong", and it's a reminder that often we find the inner strength needed during times of crisis. The film also offers up a nice moral of the story in noting the cleansing power of nature. It's a terrific little film that flashes significant talent from filmmaker Josephine Mackerras and lead actress Emilie Piponnier.

Astonishing feature debut by Australian director Josephine Mackerras, seen at SXSW (with an Q&A with the director, the film was the winner of Narrative Feature Competition at SXSW): Alice (a remarkable performance by first-time actress Emilie Piponnier) is happily married with a caring husband and a sweet little boy. Suddenly, her husband disappears, leaving her with her son, no money and a heavy mortgage on their apartment. She finds out, her husband was living a secret second life, spending all of her money on escort girls. Out of desperation and the perspective of becoming homeless, she starts working as a high-end escort girl herself. She befriends with a fellow escort girl, earns enough money to keep her flat, and gains a sense of independence and self-determination she never had before in her marriage. - The movie is absolutely stunning, a fascinating story that kept me captivated all through the end, beautifully shot, and an highly atmospheric soundtrack. In many parts, it is extremely funny (minor spoiler: e.g. the first scene in the hotel), sometimes horrifying (the phone call with Alice's mother). Probably shot with a small budget, the movie looks really expensive--the art direction, the camerawork, the soundtrack are skilfully set up. Emilie Piponnier impressively plays the role of a young woman finding her inner voice. Strongly recommended!