«Brillantissime» is not brillantissime

Cinema Wednesdays - Clément Guntern

Angela is swimming in happiness when Christmas Eve arrives. From then on, everything changes for her. Her teenage daughter leaves home as Christmas Eve approaches, and her husband announces that he's leaving her. To top it all off, her own mother seems indifferent to her plight. Angela takes refuge once again with her psychologist, with whom she has a special relationship. From then on, she tries to rebuild her life with the help of her childhood friend and new acquaintances.

A film, especially a comedy, can have no pretensions other than to entertain. In this one, there's nothing else to be found, and that's the problem. Sentimental comedies about divorce have already been covered and exhausted. For Brillantissime would have had to break new ground. Clearly, it didn't, and even worse. The Christmas setting, in addition to being silly, sounds very clichéd, as do the characters: the poor, philosophical old man who helps her along the way, the rebellious teenager with a rock band, the psychologist's patients who seem to have come straight out of a comic book, and the husband who leaves with a young Ukrainian woman.

The plot itself is absent. There's no tension in the story, no need for a final resolution as everything is already in place at the start of the film. The ending is obvious from the start. The heroine's actions are incoherent, and plot progression is non-existent or unexplained. To top it all off, the jokes are platitudinous and the humor is heavy-handed. In short, this is not a brilliant film.

Write to the author : clement.guntern@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © Frenetic Films