David O'ConnellJOSEPH AND THE GIRL @ The French Film Festival
March 3rd 2011 02:37
A crusty old crim is released from the slammer after a twenty year stretch with nothing but the key to an ex-cell mate’s creaky mansion. Upon arrival he’s greeted by the friend’s daughter with a tennis racquet to the back of the head. A small-time criminal herself, she's in search of elusive plans to a local casino that her now deceased father made reference to in a letter.
Joseph (Jacques Dutronc) informs Julie (Hafsia Herzi) that the plans actually reside in his head, but her insistence on him coughing them up for her perusal has him thinking laterally. Maybe he can use an accomplice in taking down the casino, though the lingering malaise that is Julie’s beef-headed, on-again, off-again boyfriend, Franck (Dennis Menochet), provides a minor, though worrying distraction.
Not surprisingly Joseph’s old cronies suspect him of being unable to walk a straight line, with one in particular sending an unsubtle ‘messenger’ around to stir up old wounds and seize upon details of the old man’s inevitable leap back into criminality.
Unfortunately this run-of-the-mill drama has little to offer in the way of inspiration; devoid of elaborate plans or clever twists, it even lacks visual distractions, with most scenes bleached of bright colours and appearing to be shot through a light film of dust. Writer/director Xavier De Choudens‘s characterisations are exceptionally uninteresting; they’re skimpy and watery, his dialogue trite and vacuous. The entire endeavour is totally lacking in imagination; it’s like having to endure a stroll in the park with a geriatric and his reluctant granddaughter; nothing gels or takes flight from what is a musty scenario to begin with.
Dutronc’s acting is underwhelming, with his seniority no guarantee of either guile or gravitas. He seems more reliant on a series of implosions that never reach the surface to convey changes in emotion. This veteran of French cinema, perhaps better known as a singer in his heyday, should be enjoying retirement; instead, he was seemingly coaxed from a three year slumber to take part in this futile, low-grade drama that is forgotten immediately upon expiration.
Herzi too is distressingly feeble, her limp presence proving that she either leapt half-heartedly into the role or simply wasn’t adept enough to handle its modest demands in the first place. Possibly both are true.
Joseph and the Girl (2010), though not entirely inept, is depressingly familiar. It takes us to a place we’ve visited one too many times and it’s a graveyard strewn with stale ideas. A modicum of originality might have triggered a stirring from the semi-slumber it induces. Those expecting a late spark will be waiting a while, for nothing can save this empty vessel from disappearing from sight. A fairly joyless experience from beginning to end.
The 2011 French Film Festival begins next week, kicking off in Sydney and Melbourne before progressing to other states.
Trailer in French:
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