I'm not quite sure what I was expecting from this film, given that I had never even seen a trailer or read a synopsis (only seen the promo image in the poster above), but this was DEFINITELY not it. Azazel Jacobs' French Exit is a wonderfully dry and absurdly screwball comedy that was just weird enough to completely work for me. The great writing and direction from Jacobs paired with the fantastic performances from both of the leads makes for one of the most interesting comedy experiences I have ever had in a theater. Even though I was never entirely keeled over from laughter, the stale sense of humor that radiates from this story was impeccable and the unexpected little touch of the supernatural worked just as well. This movie may require a bit of suspension of disbelief when it comes to narrative sensibility but there is so much to love about this solid, comedic effort.
Frances Price (Michelle Pfeiffer) and her son Malcolm (Lucas Hedges) are wealthy New York socialites who thrive on their own self-importance. When Frances finds out that she is insolvent after a long divorce process, the two of them are forced to relocate to Paris where they must start their lives over again and figure out what their purposes are. Like any normal and sane viewer of modern cinema, I do not like the rich. So many phenomenal films have been made in the past few years that brilliantly criticize and sometimes satirize the nonexistent problems of the 1% but none of them have wholeheartedly focused on just the rich characters. French Exit does a great job of making its audience actually want to watch this story of two wealthy people and I was never turned off by the narrative's character focus. I also do not like when films try and get their viewers to sympathize or care for the rich characters but I am so glad that this film avoided that. Patrick DeWitt's script is excellent and he knows very well that rich people can be intensely exasperating, never trying to get us to sympathize with the plight of Frances and Malcolm. What this film does best, however, is show the audience how empty these people's lives really are when you strip away the gross amounts of money they hoard. The film is fantastic at showing the mundanity and pointlessness of these characters' existences when they are forced to begin anew and the sense of comic ability that comes from that is great as well. This movie is incredibly funny and uses its dry sense of humor to the utmost of its abilities. The cinematography and editing are perfectly fine and tell an interesting enough visual story but it's really the script that carries this absurd and oftentimes laughable film.
In order to get a witty script off the ground, a director needs a cast that is able to execute such dryness and time comedic moments just right. Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges' performances in this film are magnificent and their chemistry as mother and son is just exquisite. Their mastery of combining humor and drama in the moments that need it most is just great to see and I genuinely loved how their performances complemented the development of their characters. I also think they are both so willing to accept the strange turns that the story takes and it honestly works out for the better. Any actor or actress who would have taken the supernatural scenes more seriously or in a straightforward, dramatic fashion would have been completely misunderstanding the scene itself but Pfeiffer and Hedges play these parts with a lightness to them that really turns this story screwball. The rest of the cast are all great and there were even some people that I was not aware were in this film. Imogen Poots is one of those actresses that honestly makes everything better and has already become one of those performers that I don't hear about until I see them in a film and think "oh shit, she's in this. Hell yeah." In fact, the entire supporting cast throughout French Exit are all perfectly weird enough to fit the tone of this story. The way that each new character is introduced to Frances and Malcolm is quite hilarious and the fact that they ended up having a new sort of family by the end of this film gives it a nice, heartwarming touch that I think wraps up a comedy very well. All of the supporting performances were so great and I loved how they interacted with each other to almost make this film seem like delicately crafted improv.
French Exit is a film that has been on my radar for a while now because of the great things I have heard about it and I am beyond glad that this did not disappoint. The story structure and sense of humor are definitely not going to be for everyone, as I can clearly see why it would turn someone off, but this charmingly offputting and dry take on the "fish out of water" story just worked for me. I'm honestly intrigued that Pfeiffer has been left out of the awards conversation over the past few months but given the Academy's track record with comedy, it's not a surprise that they would have overlooked this gem of a film.
My Rating: ★★★★
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