Reviewed by Michael Edwards
Stars Jean-Pierre Bacri, Jamel Debbouze, Agnès Jaoui,
Pascale Arbillot, Guillaume De Tonquedec, Frédéric Pierrot,
Mimouna Hadji, Florence Loiret
Written by Agnès Jaoui
Certification UK 12A
Runtime 110 minutes
Directed by Agnès Jaoui
Agnes Jaoui returns to the cinema with another film that is predictably affable and entertaining, but sadly seems to lack the insight and sharp wit that previous outings such as Comme Une Image had in such abundance.
The film follows Karim, a hotel porter who decides to make something of his life by making a film. But, stuck for subject matter, he decides to make a series about successful women, roping in the only subject they know: local political candidate and workaholic feminist Agathe Villanova. In doing so they encounter her family, for whom Karim's mother is working as an unpaid maid just for a small room and meagre provisions. What follows is a well orchestrated mess which challenges each character comes to question the way they are living their lives and whether they are truly abiding by their own beliefs.
There are a few nice moments of sweet sentimentality, and the kind of wry comments on the frustrations on filming that you might expect from someone who has as many years of experience as Ms Jaoui. But while the film is likeable enough it just lacks any real drive and ends up feeling a little frustrating. Not only are the conclusions from all of the comedic emotional blundering more than a little bland, with everyone ending up not too far from where they started, but they rely far too heavily on standard assumptions about family problems that 'emotionally scar' children and hound them through their adult life. And when I add this to my standard gripe about how lazy it is for a filmmaker to make a film about filmmaking (or script writers making a script about writers and so on) I can't help but feel like this was a slightly lazy, offhand outing that was made very casually.
It's entertaining, amusing and now and then has some heartwarming scenes, but ultimately Let's Talk About the Rain is far too lightweight to appease Jaoui fans and not funny enough to just be watched for a laugh. Disappointing.