I love foreign films and while I don't particularly like the attitude of the French I do enjoy French films. Unfortunately, this film requires a lot from its viewers. The story is about a housewife named Loli (Victoria Abril) who calls a plumber for her kitchen drain and she meets Marijo (Josiane Balasko) who is a lesbian and instantly attracted to Loli. Loli has a husband named Laurent (Alain Chabat) who is constantly cheating on her. One night he notices the attraction between his wife and Marijo and explodes. Loli finds out about her husbands infidelities and allows Marijo to move in with them. She sets up a schedule where three nights a week she sleeps with her husband and three nights with Marijo. Then one day an old girlfriend of Marijo comes to visit and Loli gets very jealous and leaves. She says she does not want to talk to Marijo anymore so Marijo decides to leave. But before she leaves she asks Laurent to get her pregnant but Loli does not know this. The film is directed by its star Balasko. The implausible situations that arise during this film are part of what is wrong with it. Its just a bunch scenes that are written into the film to make the characters react in a strange manner. Marijo and Loli waste no time getting romantic and Marijo has no qualms about moving into the household of a married couple and jeopardizing their marriage. The fistfight between Laurent and Marijo is just for slapstick purposes and comes off totally unbelievable. One thing that I did enjoy in this film is the performance of Ticky Holgado who plays Antoine. He works with Laurent and is his best friend and covers for him all the time. His character is the most believable and while he has obvious faults he appears to just want to get along with everyone. In a very strong scene he tells Laurent that he has not seen his kids in twelve years and that he should do what he has to do to save his marriage. Its the only authentic moment in this trivial film. One other thing that is noticeable is the nudity. Abril is a huge star in France and Spain and in this film she is totally nude a number of times. It shows how different things are in this country with American actress's and what they won't do on camera. Balasko is a very good actress and very talented but I'm not sure what she was going for in this film. Maybe she thought the comedic story line would be enough to carry this film. It doesn't and the film comes off as phony excuse for a comedy.
Review of French Twist
