The French Exit: Understated and Supernatural
Director Azazel Jacobs tells a surrealist comedic tale about a dysfunctional family based on the novel by Patrick DeWitt, The French Exit. Frances Price is a 65 New York socialite who is about to go broke. Out of all her problems that include being widowed and her cat being a reincarnated version of her husband going broke is something she can't accept.
Michelle Pfeiffer plays the intoxicating Frances who holds onto her last stacks of cash like the remaining sand in an hourglass telling her that time is running out for her. When her husband Frank died she pulled her son Malcolm out of school because she needed someone else to love her. As the money is running low she decides to take her son and their cat out of the city and to Paris. They convert the last of their money into euros and sail on a cruise ship to a borrowed Paris apartment.
The movie feels like a rainy, still Sunday that shifts into a slow burn comedy the next second. It never reaches a heightened climax to meet the absurdity of the characters. This technique keeps the movie from feeling more animated and creates a world indifferent from Frances and her son Malcolm.
The eccentric family is out of step with reality almost like the Tenenbaums. In the second half, surrealism heightens but there is a barrier that keeps it grounded at all times. This makes it feel like a tender film that is mostly guided through the strength of its cast. The film is about escaping but it never seems to catch up to the hurry that the characters are in. It just takes its sweet time moving from one scene to the next,
Pfeiffer perfectly portrays Frances as a rare creature that is slowly becoming endangered. The Manhattan socialite is trapped in her own little world but something happens and she has to escape to die. She never aspires to be more than her cliche that is evident based on how Pfeiffer talks. There is disgust in her own voice when she hears herself talking and the film has an off-balance feel that plays into her state of feeling lost.
Malcolm played by Lucas Hedges delivers a thoughtful performance based on acceptance. Frances and he play well together onscreen and make the film more intriguing. He has his doubt about her in private but when they are in public they stand proudly together. The scene where Frances is talking to the homeless man and Malcolm stands behind her in support is a pure display of his love for her. Their relationship is so interesting as it balances being enviable and nagging.
In Paris, Malcolm and Frances acquire an eccentric group of friends as the story turns into the importance of whom we surround ourselves with. The last act revolves around an idea of whom we surround ourselves with if money wasn't the most important currency. It almost feels fantasy like as everything goes down with this group.
Despite the amazing performances, Jacobs doesn't give audiences something to hold on to after viewing. There are touching moments that feel mystical but the film is missing something. It feels like a thin adaptation of Frances's life. We spend time with these people and like them but there isn't a point where we are invited to join in with them. The film encourages a message of making the best of things but there is an aloofness to engage meaningfully with these characters. It is hard o tell what the film wants audiences to get out of it.