Les folies de Margaret

Saw at LFF - very good indeed.

Go and see for Brooke Shields; she is a riot as a lesbian femme fatale!

Parker is a bit irritating, but beautiful!

Good film.

This film is about an author who tries to write a follow up to her successful erotic novel debut. In the process of her research, she begins to question her marriage.

"The Misadventures of Margaret" tries to be an erotic romantic comedy, but it does not achieve either way. The production is B grade, looking more like a movie with a very tight budget. The plot is a little strange, jumping from fantasy and reality. Some of the fantasy scenes are laughable, and it's not a good thing. Most scenes are not that memorable either. I think "The Misadventures of Margaret" is a miss, despite a great cast.

I love Parker Posey's movies, but this one was horrible. The dialogue was strangely paced, Parker's character had absolutely no depth or reason to care about her, the tension of the fidelity issues between her and her husband was played out entirely wrong.

The whole film had a navel-gazing stupor to it, with only a few characters seemingly able to rise above it's silliness. Parker's husband, and her gay editor are the two people who perform their roles with any kind of natural behavior. Kudos also to Brooke Shields, in a minor role with some funny moments.

All in all, however, this movie left me cold. The plot was slow, and culminated in an entirely unbelievable scene between Parker and her husband. The dialogue was delivered far too quickly and not enough was said to make you identify with anyone. The editing was also odd: a character would be in New York in one frame, then Paris in another with nothing to let you know why.

If you want to see Parker in a better light, watch The House of Yes or The Anniversary Party. Avoid this movie at all costs.

"The Misadventures of Margaret" is a film with a good cast. The names of Parker Posey, Elizabeth McGovern, Brooke Shields, Jeremy Northam and Corbin Bernsen give the expectation of an entertaining romantic comedy. Unfortunately the story and the characters are awful. Parker Posey performs an insecure and unbalanced woman and successful writer that wants to cheat her husband to write an erotic novel. Her agent (Craig Chester) is gay and her adviser. Her sister (Elizabeth McGovern) simply decides to leave her husband (Corbin Bernsen), who is a womanizer and unfaithful to her, to live with her lesbian friend (Brooke Shields). Only Jeremy Northam's character is not dysfunctional; he is a cult British professor that works hard and faithful husband still in love with his wife after a seven-year marriage. And in the corrupt universe of these characters, he seems to be wrong and guilty for the promiscuity of his wife. Gay audience will probably enjoy the free frontal nudity of men in several scenes. My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): "Nem Todas as Mulheres São Iguais" ("Not Every Women Are Equal")

While not the best movie, it was certainly enjoyable to watch. sadly, i have only seen (and own!) the American DVD which is twenty minutes shorter with most of the nudity edited out. and who couldn't use a little more nudity featuring Jeremy Northam? Hmmmm... Jeremy Northam.... but i digress. the best part of the movie is the soundtrack! performed oh so perfectly by Saint Etienne. they even released it (only in Japan) as "The Misadventures Of Saint Etienne". since the film didn't really do very well box office-wise, the cd was made in very limited quantities and went out of print quickly. i wish more of it was used in the film as it's barely heard.