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Review: Coco Before Chanel

Bio-pic doesn't quite wear well enough
By ALICIA POTTER  |  September 30, 2009
2.5 2.5 Stars

 

Based on the book by Edmonde Charles-Roux, Anne Fontaine's soaper of a bio-pic traces the fashion icon's life before the perfume and the bouclé suits. It opens in 1893, as a young Chanel gets dumped at the orphanage — and into, it seems, one highly influential simple black frock.

The waif ages into Audrey Tautou, who, with dangling cigarette and a head made for hats, weaves this grim childhood into a charismatic mix of wariness, ambition, and bite. Seamstress by day, saloon gal by night, Chanel has designs, all right — on playing mistress to a boorish bon vivant (Benoît Poelvoorde) at the center of high society.

Although the visuals and the score are often elegant, the sudsy drama and muddled ironies of a complicated love life (Alessandro Nivola shows up) wear badly, and they veil a true understanding of Chanel's artistic drive. By the end, the film has slipped into TV-ready hagiography while nonetheless inducing the urge for a crisp white collar and French cuffs.

Related: W. gets a B, Why so serious?, The Secret Life of Bees, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Celebrity News, Entertainment, Culture and Lifestyle,  More more >
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ARTICLES BY ALICIA POTTER
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   REVIEW: OLD DOGS  |  November 25, 2009
    Director Walt Becker re-teams with his Road Hogs star and apparent muse John Travolta for another execrable entry in the aging boomer buddy “comedy” genre.
  •   REVIEW: COCO BEFORE CHANEL  |  September 30, 2009
    Based on the book by Edmonde Charles-Roux, Anne Fontaine's soaper of a bio-pic traces the fashion icon's life before the perfume and the bouclé suits.
  •   REVIEW: CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS  |  September 16, 2009
    This bizarre animated adaptation of Judi Barrett's cult-classic children's book by Phil Lord and Chris Miller ladles up much to chew on yet little that's appetizing.
  •   REVIEW: POST GRAD  |  August 19, 2009
    Vicky Jenson's grainy Little Miss Sunshine spawn starts promisingly, with Carol Burnett as a caftan-clad coffin dodger inhaling oxygen and a bag of Cheetos.
  •   REVIEW: G-FORCE  |  July 28, 2009
    A hero named Darwin and a convoluted plot about "global extermination" are the first clues that director Hoyt Yeatman isn't taking the cute route with his cast of animated guinea pigs.

 See all articles by: ALICIA POTTER

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