LOOK AT ME (France / 2004)

Look at Me is a disappointingly ordinary film from Agns Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri, the makers of The Taste of Others, a witty and charming comedy of manners which was released stateside in 2001. Look at Me isnt completely devoid of wit and allure, but those moments are too few and far between. The oft-repeated concepts of self-image and social expectations casually play out on our protagonist, a young over-weight woman named "Lolita" (Marilou Berry), who is the daughter of a rich and famous (and thus arrogant) novelist/publisher (Jean-Pierre Bacri). Lolita believes, and in many cases rightfully so, that people are only attracted to her because who her father is: her paranoia includes her two boyfriends, but not her choral teacher (Agns Jaoui), who in fact does behave differently towards her after discovering who she is for the sake of her glum husband/writer (Laurent Grvill). The obvious problem of Lolita is palpable early on (shes quite like her father), and the film repeats her predicament during various stretches for effect, While, in some cases, Look at Me plays against our expectations -- Lolitas statuesque stepmother adores her; it only flirts with being a merry-go-round of romances, etc. -- the characters still seem trapped by the innocuous screenplay. Bacri and Jaoui perform their parts admirably (which shouldnt be a surprise since they wrote them), but the rest of the cast members, including Marilou Berry, are only adequate at best. The performances by the choral group (and Mozart is also around), although repetitious, are a welcome addition, and some intriguing parallels start to develop near the end, but its too little too late. A film like Look at Me makes one truly appreciate a masterwork like Va Savoir (2001), in which Jacques Rivette so seamlessly blended in his world with ours.

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*Available in the U.S. on DVD (Sony).