Parlez-moi de la pluie (Let It Rain), Agnes Jaoui, 2008

Jaoui's tragi-comic farce is generally well-crafted, but is ultimately somewhat less that the sum of its parts. By turns broadly comedic or pointedly dramatic, the film simply doesn't realize the potential of either direction.

Pocket Cinephile in FLAUNT

My essay on the late Eric Rohmer is in the latest issue of FLAUNT Magazine, on stands now. Check it out.

The Killer Inside Me, Michael Winterbottom, 2010

Winterbottom's reading of Jim Thompson's exceedingly dark Texas noir is uneven but ultimately lasting. Casey Affleck is by turns spot on and overwrought as the even-keeled killer Lou Ford. Likewise, Winterbottom's direction (not unlike DePalma's in the similarly revivalist Black Dahlia), drifts between classically evocative and awkwardly stylized.