French Exit

A french exit is the term for when one leaves a party without saying goodbye. There's an implied disrespect when one does that; a sense of anger or boredom, and those feelings hang over much of the movie but are leavened with a sprinkling of good humour as if the departed guest had left behind some unexpected gifts.

At first glance, it seems to be an icy drama about emotionally closed off, super-wealthy New Yorkers but it turns out to be a stealthy comic/absurdist deranged tale where supernatural events are taken as normal, and mediums and private detectives can move into one's life.

The plot, such as it is, starts out with Michelle Pfeiffer's character learning that all her money has been spent. She sells off what she has left, and moves to Paris with her aimless son (played by Lucas Hedges) and their cat (I don't remember who plays the cat) to move into an apartment being lent to her by a friend.

What becomes clear is that Pfeiffer's character intends to live only as long as she still has money, and she is deliberately spending it as fast as she can.

This description doesn't do justice to the left turns the narrative takes, but I won't say more - just know that contacting the dead, mega generosity to the homeless, and a spurned fiancée all form part of the narrative.

It's a bizarre mix, and yet something about it works. Despite the iciness of Pfeiffer and the uselessness of Hedges, they attract into their lives a bizarre group of almost... friends? It's almost as if, in spite of themselves, a group of misfits become their family and unlikely emotional bonds form. It's as if humans, despite how they may have closed themselves off due to past pain, can't help forming tribes, communities who need each other.

It's as if we can put up barriers (like money) between us, but we can't keep them up - sooner or later we have to let people in, or we die...

If someone told me, they can't get too into the emotional problems of the super-wealthy, I would get that but I think there is something more universal at work here.

The screenplay is by Patrick DeWitt based on his own novel. (He also wrote the book "The Sisters Brothers" is based on.) It's directed by Azazel Jacobs. I have not seen any of Jacobs' previous work but he directs here with a sure sense of space, and a flair for the chilly atmosphere. It's not flashy but it really does the job.

Everyone is always saying there should be more less sequels/remakes/brand-extensions. This movie is weird, and that's good.

This is an odd movie about quirky characters. If you like films with quirky characters and you love Paris, you'll probably like this movie. You also have to have an appreciation for the fantastical and whimsical. I thought the fantasy aspects made perfect sense with the plot. Pfeiffer gives an Oscar-worthy performance. At first you won't like her character, but she grows on you.

With the adjective "French" in the title French Exit, much more can be expected than someone just leaving a country. With existential echoes and philosophical attitude the French can have over a croissant, an audience can see where writer Patrick DeWitt and director Azazel Jacobs are going in this low-key drawing-room comedy.

The glamorous Michell Pfeiffer plays sixty-year-old former Manhattan socialite Frances, who encourages thoughts that go from the losses aging brings to the mortality ultimately reserved for all. She has lost her wealthy businessman husband, Franklin (voice of Tracy Letts), who returns with the help of randy seer Madeleine the Medium (Danielle Macdonald) in the form of a black cat (yes, the occult element is one of the lighter elements of a film, described as a comedy but really a darkly and quietly humorous melodrama). Call it a farce because it's French, but don't expect to laugh much.

As in the work of Wes Anderson and Woody Allen (check out the Midnight in Paris-type music), the comedic turns are due largely to eccentric characters who don't fit snugly with the overarching themes of love and friendship at the end of things. At French Exit's end, it is far more melancholy than funny.

Dutiful son Malcolm (Lucas Hedges) accompanies her to a friend's flat in Paris (one of several friends to help her through her grief such as ditsy Madame Reynard, played by Valerie Mahaffey) never certain how to take his mother's sardonic wit, or maybe just amused while perhaps not knowing it is her time to exit. Whatever, Hedges plays him vulnerable and shy to the world and her (he can't bring himself to tell his mother he's engaged, for goodness's sake)

With echoes of Sartre and Camus, French Exit reminds the audience there is no exit from our common end. Gradually Frances is shedding her wealth, friends, and family and accumulating a retinue of characters who exist to remind her, it seems, of how inextricably we are tied to others until we are not.

A surreal comedy-drama romp from director Azazel Jacobs.

I had the pleasure of seeing "French Exit" at its New York Film Festival premiere. I wasn't sure what to expect. I was familiar with the best-selling book on which it's based by author Patrick deWitt. I wasn't quite sure how the source material would translate to the big screen but by the end I was blown away. The cast is breathtaking. Pfeiffer gives one of the best performances of her career. You simply can't imagine anyone else playing Francis. Lucas Hedges is also a standout playing Francis' long-suffering son, Malcolm. Actress Valerie Mahaffey is also delightful playing the painfully awkward Mme. Reynard.

I really wish I could have watched it again - something I haven't been able to say about a film in a very long time.

Michelle Pfeiffer plays an aging socialite who finds herself broke and needing to start over. With her son and cat in tow, they take off to stay at a friend's apartment in Paris to figure things out.

The cat plays a prominent role and takes the film into the absurd realm. I could have done without this subplot as it changes the tone of the film halfway through. If they were going for surreal and absurd go in 100% or don't go there at all. The story didn't need it.

Despite that, Pfeiffer's commitment to playing this affected, sarcastic woman keeps you interested. At times she is hilarious, then gradually the layers are pulled back, revealing the pain underneath the facade. Her scenes in the latter part of the film are emotional and moving.

The supporting cast was very good as well. Lucas Hedges, the seemingly go-to young actor in Hollywood, was appropriately deadpan and amusing. But it's Pfeiffer who deserves an Oscar nomination. It's truly one of her best roles.