A Private Life, My Mother's Wedding and Minions and Monsters

 

A Private Life is a mystery drama that I thought was going to turn into a predictable search for a murder suspect. But nothing of the sort. This is a far more complicated story dealing with relationships past and present. Jodie Foster stars in this French movie as a therapist who, when her office is broken into and records stolen, wants to know who. She (now sixty-three) turns for assistance to her ex-husband, played by seventy-six-year-old Daniel Auetile. That wonderful part in the fabulous La Belle Époque. The best part of the film is the conversations between the two. Foster is so serious; we never see the glimpse of a smile until the very end. Her work now seems to bore her, and she is not at all a pleasant person. But thrown together in a search for an explanation, there are times when you see why they are now living apart. This was my sort of movie.

Written and directed by Rebecca Zlotowski with an original script with help from Anne Berest and Gaelle Mace, it ticked all the boxes. Mark Kermode said he "enjoyed it because it played so well". Philip Concannon in Sight and Sound Magazine said, "It's a pleasure to watch these two great actors bounce off each other."

Not quite Four Weddings and a Funeral, but My Mother's Wedding had definite similarities. An all-star cast includes Scarlett Johansson in the lead as one of the three daughters coming together at the same time for the latest wedding of their mother. Johansson plays a scowling career naval officer on the verge of a huge promotion. Nothing like I have ever seen her in before. Her sisters are played by a deadly serious Sienna Miller and a quieter Emily Beecham. Not a happy mix. Based on the experiences of writer and director Kristin Scott Thomas, she plays their mother getting married to the solid (thank goodness) James Fleet. (Why is he missing from the wikipedia short cast list when some foreigner makes it after appearing for what seemed five minutes?) The ending is quite unexpected and strangely has nothing to do with the wedding. In The Guardian, Benjamin Lee was not impressed apart from the performances. I thought it was well done and everything looked fabulous.

Watching all the trailers before the film (they were all animated features), I wondered why I was there. They all looked pathetic. But Minions and Monsters was completely different. There was so much packed into every frame; it was all fast and furious. So much so that at times I wished they would slow down so I could appreciate all the many, many references to films past and present. I'm sure I saw bits in the corner of the screen that I missed. I guess these glimpses were for real film buffs; that would have been lost on the younger audience. Not sure what children would get from this barrage of old movies. And Gru from the earlier films does not get a look in. Fortunately. It's left to James and Henry to lead the way, especially when they get separated from their friends later on. 

This is close to top-class silent comedy as we mine the vaults of old Hollywood. The Minions somehow find themselves stars of the age of silent comedy. We have the Bright Brothers representing old-time studio bosses at their worst. But they find the lovable excess of the Minions perfect for their success. It's just when talkies arrive that the fact we cannot understand most of what they are saying turns out to them being kicked out of the studio. 

However, I agreed with critic Tom Shone in the Sunday Times that this is when the film takes a really disappointing turn. The introduction of brand new monsters from whom the Minions have to save the world is awful. Much too feeble and obvious, especially as what would normally have been quietly violent scenes had to be toned down for the U certificate. But then we get some of the best of all in those little clips amongst the credits at the end. Definitely worth waiting for. It's all chaotic and funny, and I'm left with incredulity at the quality of the animation. I just wished it were not so rushed. Then, perhaps the sequence of a runaway train would have provided a better ending. It's left to Rafaela Bassili in The Guardian to reference director Pierre Coffin's "love letter to cinema".