“My plan was to die before the money ran out,” says 60-year-old penniless Manhattan socialite Frances Price, but things didn’t go as planned. Her husband Franklin has been dead for 12 years and with his vast inheritance gone, she cashes in the last of her possessions and resolves to live out her twilight days anonymously in a borrowed apartment in Paris, accompanied by her directionless son Malcolm and a cat named Small Frank—who may or may not embody the spirit of Frances’s dead husband.
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SWITCH.
3/18/2021
8 / 10
I really can't do justice to just how thoroughly entertaining a film 'French Exit' is. It had me roaring and cackling with laughter, totally enchanted by its irreverence and good humour. You feel as if you're watching a great piece of classic theatre, where silly rich white people bumble around in fancy rooms, unaware that they're revealing, with their silly irrelevant lives, just how strange and beautiful life and love and sadness and happiness can be. Michelle Pfeiffer's tremendous central performance, full of camp and acid and sadness, would be enough of a reason to see 'French Exit', but it's all the more rewarding for how complete an experience it is. The ridiculous and the surreal are employed for the purpose for which they are always at their best - to make us laugh at how silly life can be, and sigh at the truth that, no matter what, we want to keep living regardless.
- Daniel Lammin
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https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-french-exit-a-farcical-and-ridiculous-delight
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I find surreal comedy one of the most challenging subgenres to appreciate. In my experience, the humor must be pitch-perfect in order for me to actually laugh throughout the runtime of a purposefully absurd film. In addition to this, I need to feel some sort of connection with the protagonist(s). Otherwise, I'll struggle to truly enjoy the fun inside all the chaos. I've never seen a movie by Azazel Jacobs (The Lovers, Terri), who brings the same screenwriter of the latter film, Patrick deWitt.
Michelle Pfeiffer delivers a phenomenal performance, showing tremendous emotional range and an acting experience that allows her to seamlessly navigate any script thrown at her. Ultimately, Pfeiffer proves that she still has what it takes to lead the biggest movies of each year. Unfortunately, I found French Exit an incredibly tough film to enjoy. From the remaining disappointing performances - Lucas Hedges is frustratingly annoying in this role - to the lack of interest in the overall narrative, it's one of those movies that either the viewers connect with immediately, or it's not going to be an easy watch.
Surreal comedy implies a nonsensical screenplay, which might trigger some people to dislike it from the get-go. It's an extremely specific type of humor that doesn't usually reach big groups of people. Azazel Jacobs brings Patrick deWitt's screenplay to the screen with remarkable commitment, but in the end, it's a slow, stretched-out film with not that many laughs to offer.
Rating: C-
