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The Movie: Director Henry Jaglom's 2001 feature "Festival In Cannes" offers an interesting concept and a thrown-together charm, but the movie occasionally goes about it all the wrong way. While there are scattered highlights, there's also a fair amount of scenery serving as padding. The concept: Jaglom arrived at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival with a legion of stars along for the ride; they created characters and sketched out a plot, then went about largely improvising the material. The plot and characters are a bit too familiar and may strike many as stereotypical in this kind of picture: Alice Parker (Gretta Scacchi) is a screenwriter who believes that the Festival may offer a chance to sell her latest offering; fast-talking "producer" Kaz Naiman (Zack Norman) agrees and tries to push a faded French actress (Anouk Aimée) into the project. Meanwhile, another, more legit producer (Ron Silver, who looks quite a bit like producer Jerry Bruckheimer) wants the actress for his picture. On the fringes, Blue (cute newcomer Jenny Gabrielle) is an unknown indie actress who's about to have a break-out hit. Also thrown into the story is another thread with the French actress's ex-husband, Victor Kovner (Maximillian Schnell. Again, I liked the idea and mostly, it works. Although some of the characters are exaggerated for comedic effect (most notably, Kaz), many of the discussions felt somewhat realistic. The most involving element of the story is the plot with the two different sides fighting for the consideration of Aimee's character. It provided an engaging little story; does an actress past her prime accept the small part in a blockbuster that offers her visibility but little chance to express herself, or does she choose the terrific part in the indie? However, reaching for further highlights is a difficult task: the 99-minute picture often seems padded out with shots of the festival, the attractive scenery, or even characters simply pondering their next move. Some of the less interesting side stories (such as the Blue story) also intrude on the main story. Jaglom has some themes in mind; commercialism vs. art (better portrayed in Altman's "The Player" or Roman Coppola's recent "CQ") and ageism, but they are hardly developed within these stories. The performances are generally solid, although they aren't too exceptional. Norman seems remarkably at home in the slick "producer" character, while Silver's apparent attempt to recreate Jerry Bruckheimer is entertaining, if low-key. Schnell, Aimee and Scacchi provide acceptable performances, although none are at their finest. It's also odd that, while the film is set in Cannes, there are hardly any stars caught in the background (aside from...William Shatner). "Festival In Cannes" is watchable and even has some cute and funny moments, but I think that, had some work been done on creating a tighter structure and stronger characters, this could have been a sharper, funnier look at the market that is the Cannes fest. The DVD VIDEO: "Festival In Cannes" is presented by Paramount in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The transfer is surprisingly attractive for a low-budget feature, although I'm sure the consistently lovely scenery certainly added to the appearance of the film. Sharpness and detail are excellent; the image did not always offer terrific depth, but it did present strong detail and offer a smooth, "film-like" appearance. Thankfully, the attractive cinematography does not suffer from any considerable flaws in the presentation: no edge enhancement or any other artifacts appear, while the print also appears in near-perfect condition. The film's bright, natural color palette also looked vibrant, with no smearing or any other faults. Overall, a superb transfer. SOUND: The 2.0 soundtrack is generally very good, considering the material. Although the entire enterprise is dialogue-driven, a nice amount of background ambience is present. MENUS: Basic, non-animated film-themed images. EXTRAS: Nothing. Final Thoughts: Cute, but a little too slight and cluttered, "Festival In Cannes" has moments but also had the potential to be a tighter, wittier look at its themes. Paramount's DVD edition does not offer any supplements, but I enjoyed both the audio/video quality. Some may find it an interesting rental. 
Film Grade The Film ** 1/2 DVD Grades Video 90/A- Audio: 86/B Extras: 0/F Menus: 70/C- |