SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

bandw This character-driven film has a fine ensemble cast. At the hub is Étienne Cassard (Jean-Pierre Bacri), a famous author and publisher with a towering ego. Among those sucked into the vortex created by this man are: Lolita, a daughter who wants to be a classical music singer; Karine, a trophy wife; Sylvia, Lolita's voice instructor; Pierre, Sylvia's novelist husband; and Sébastian, Lolita's boyfriend.Those looking for a heavy plot or action should skip this - we drop in on the characters, get to know them, and then leave them pretty much as they were at the beginning. Each of the main characters gets a good share of screen time.Cassard is a real piece of work. He purposely hurls insults, frequently at Lolita. Lolita has the heavyset build of an opera singer and, when she complains that Cassard is hurting her with a hug, he says that it wouldn't hurt if she had muscle (instead of fat). Being so self-obsessed Cassard wounds those around him most by ignoring them. Lolita is driven to distraction by trying to display her vocal talents to her dad, but when he finally attends a concert where she performs he walks out after a couple of minutes, since he has had an idea that he needs to capture. You wonder why people don't just tell him to stuff it, but his fame gives him privileges and power. And when someone does confront him, he can quickly lash back. When Sylvia points out that "It was her (Lolita's) night. You said nothing," to which Cassard responds, in the presence of Pierre, "Mind your business. This lady's teaching me manners. It's true, she is a guilt pusher." This last comment causes much grief between Sylvia and Pierre. Agnès Jaoui (director/screenwriter/actress) has a wonderfully expressive face. As she watches Lolita's performance her face in profile shows us exactly what she is feeling. I really liked the way that this movie doesn't rush things. For example, we get a long tracking shot of Lolita just walking along the street and are able to absorb her mood. I think only a confident director would include such a scene.Music plays a pivotal role, both as background and as an integral part of the story. In addition to some original music, including some salsa, we are treated to Schubert, Monteverdi, Verdi, Handel, Mozart, and Beethoven. I was particularly pleased that we got more than a small taste of Lolita's final performance, which was enjoyable in its own right. There is some sharp and pointed dialog here, but it escapes me how this movie is considered to be in good part a comedy. What humor there is tends toward the sardonic. The people seem real and the themes are serious. There are a lot of subtle undercurrents in the relationships and I found a second viewing to be of value.The DVD "making of" extra is worth seeing. It shows how much effort goes into making such a movie and how surprising it is that such a collaborative endeavor ever works.

pablocarlos The English translation of this film's title conveys so much of what the film is about: Look at Me. The main character Lolita wants to be noticed by her father, a famous novelist and publisher, but he treats her with indifference. Yet Lolita herself similarly treats Sebastien with the same indifference while investing herself too heavily in a boyfriend who only dates her to meet her father. Indeed, Lolita's singing teacher, Sylvia, only takes significant notice of Lolita after discovering who her father is. The movie is really about an interconnected web of people who use others blindly. As in their earlier film "The Taste of Others," Jaoui and Bacri do an excellent job of capturing little snatches of everyday life and common human interactions, notably the little squabble in the car between Sylvia and her husband over her driving. Sensitive, funny and exceptionally perceptive (something its characters are clearly not).

MelCooley2 I would like to discuss three words... 1. "Comedy" - used in every review I read of this film 2. "Brilliant" - also used in reviews to describe this film 3. "Entertaining" - something that I prefer films to be...and there are many ways for a movie to be entertaining: in a laugh-out-loud kind of way, in a quietly touching kind of way, and many ways in between.I would not use any of those three words to describe this film.I have read a lot here and in other places that talk about the difference between American films and all of the "better films" that come from other parts of the world. I see a lot of import films every year and I prefer not to divide filmmakers around the world into "us" and "them." There are great filmmakers working today and they live all over the world...in Austin, Texas, in Paris, France, and yes, in Hollywood, California. There are lots of terrible films made in the U.S., and there are lots of terrible films made in other countries, too. (I am not calling "Look At Me" a "terrible" film; it isn't.) So I think it's pointless and a little bit snobbish to discuss whether or not the films made in the U.S. are worse than those made in other countries. But I will submit one point of difference I've noticed. In American films, "subtle" means "subtle." Yes, we do have the ability to be subtle. But in many import films I see, "boring" is called "subtle" by people who are afraid to admit to being bored. I would put "Look At Me" in that category. There, I said it. Try it, it feels good. Another thing, then I'll stop. I bristle when people talk about how awful American films are. Sure there's a lot of junk out there, but think about it: A huge percentage of what comes out of Hollywood is made for young people...drunken frat boys...teenagers...date night. I don't see a lot of those really silly ones on the "foreign" shelf at Blockbuster. Maybe those don't make it across the ocean and we never see them. Maybe they don't even bother making those films in Europe. Hey, fine, good for them...I admire their artistic sensibilities. But that's how you make a lot of money, so those kinds of films are going to get made. Show a guy in a movie having sex with an apple pie and every 17 year old kid (and, for reasons I cannot understand, many of their parents) will go see that movie three times and buy the DVD. But there ARE a lot of U.S. films made FOR ADULTS and many of them are very good. So take all the pie sex movies out of the equation because those don't really count. If we're talking quality films made for American grown-ups, I say there are many, many great films that come out of the U.S. each year. So there.My opinion. I know you have your own.Tenderly, Mel C.

noralee "Look At Me (Comme une image)" is a sweetly wry cross between "Lovely and Amazing" and Woody Allen's "Celebrity." A two generational ensemble of obliviously self-absorbed Parisian intellectuals connected through a complicated roundelay of blended family, hangers-on, co-dependents and preening sycophants demonstrates that these types are not just found in Los Angeles and New York City.Co-writer/director Agnès Jaoui has already proved she can manage comically touching organized chaos in a script co-written and co-starring her ex, Jean-Pierre Bacri, with the marvelous "The Taste of Others (Le Goût des autres)" and she does it again here, while casting herself and he in the least flattering roles. The senses are again emphasized; characters complain "Don't touch!", "Don't you like the taste?", "You don't see!", and one crucially leaves a room because he's impatient with the sound -- as each ignores the obvious that is right in front of them.This is reminiscent of those Shakespearean comedies where he is in love with she who is love with another him who is love with the other her, etc. that get complicated by little white lies to protect each other's feelings until they become comically hypocritically committed.Marilou Berry (in a role that would probably be played in an American re-make by Sara Rue if the heart-stealing is maintained or by Nia Vardalos if they go for broader comedy -- and I doubt she'd be singing a cappella madrigals) is utterly charming as a woebegone and ignored daughter of the first marriage of a famous writer with a new younger family, with Bacri as a modern version of Moliere's "The Misanthrope." I'm not sure I've seen quite the same "meet cute" before as the adorable Keine Bouhiza falls down drunk at her feet.What would also be different from an American version is that the ensemble is almost all character actors, such that it adds irony to the guys constant girl-watching and commentary on passing women's looks. The one overly obvious dig is that the only model handsome guy is the host of a puerile television talk show, while the beautiful trophy wife is insecure through constantly being picked on.