Wash Westmoreland | Scott's Film Reviews-1,504 Reviews posted!!! RECENTLY LAUNCHED-MY TOP 250 FAVORITE FILMS AND TOP 40 HORROR FILMS!!!

Colette-2018

Director Wash Westmoreland

Starring Keira Knightley, Dominic West

Scott’s Review #888

Reviewed April 20, 2019

Grade: B+

Colette (2018) is a French period drama and biopic based on the life and times of the novelist Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette.

The film is directed by Wash Westmoreland, who also directed Still Alice (2014), so the man is successful at creating a film from a strong female point of view.

With a prominent and cultured French style and sophistication, the film pairs well with and ultimately belongs to star Keira Knightley.

The glaring British accents, rather than French, and the formulaic approach bring the experience down a notch from grandeur in a film likely to be forgotten.

Knightley plays the title character, whose upbringing in a rural area of France is pleasant but hardly sophisticated and utterly country.

When Colette meets a handsome literary genius named Willy (Dominic West), successful but employing ghostwriters to fill his creative void, the pair marry and combine forces to create popular novels based on Colette’s naughty schoolgirl experiences.

The duo embarks on frequent dalliances with feminine and masculine women (Colette is bisexual) and faces the trials and tribulations of seesawing finances and competitiveness until their ultimate divorce.

Along the way, Willy and Colette enjoy the excesses of late nineteenth-century Paris.

Besides a few quick exterior shots of the Seine River and fabulous Parisian landmarks such as Notre Dame, the filming likely did not take place in France at all, though you’d never know it.

Both cozy and flamboyant scenes of Parisian eateries and lavish nightclubs, like the Moulin Rouge, and one wealthy socialite’s love nest, are featured, giving the film an authentic French flair.

The costumes are decadent, and stage shows with Colette and her partner crackle with daring artistic merit.

Knightley, a household name but still teetering on the brink of one definitive significant role, comes close with her portrayal of Colette.

Westmoreland is wise to climax the film with photos and a summary of the real-life writer and her husband.

If only the film had received marginally good reviews and achieved great reviews, then perhaps the actress might have secured an Oscar nomination, but alas, the opportunity was missed. Nonetheless, Knightley plays the role with delicious and naughty delight, sinking her teeth into a character who wants to live and have fun.

Despite the rich French flavor, Colette is marred by a jarring flaw: the actors all have English accents rather than French. All in favor of occasional suspensions of disbelief to elicit the desired effect or manipulation, it is assumed that Westmoreland decided, since most of the actors are British, to let the detail slide in favor of comfort with the language.

Perhaps this misfire is why the sets and locations are overcompensated and decorated in such lovely French style.

The story is formulaic and silly, to be honest, while Knightley and West share great chemistry. As Willy and Colette paint the town, they also have repeated misunderstandings or outbursts of rage and jealousy (mostly on her part) before deciding to accept and enjoy each other as they are.

Unfortunate is how, through the affairs and celebratory nights, Colette accepts her role as a ghostwriter to his name recognition, only to divorce and never see Willy again, based on his sale of the treasured Claudine series.

Hopeful was I for a happily ever after result.

A crisp and polished offering of the life and times of a complex and peculiar French figure Colette (2018) has its share of ups and downs.

Unknown how true to real life the story is, the acting is compelling and reaches a high point, while the cultural flavor is zestful and spicy.

The film may not be well remembered, but it is ultimately a success due to a few above-par qualities that outweigh the negatives.

Still Alice-2014

Director Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland

Starring Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin

Scott’s Review #224

Reviewed February 26, 2015

Grade: B+

Still Alice (2014) tells the story of a highly educated college professor who, at the young age of fifty, is afflicted with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

She wrestles with, not only the gloomy diagnosis but also the emotional effects of the disease and what effects they will have on her husband and three grown children.

Also explored are the hereditary aspects of the illness and the effects on the offspring of the inflicted person.

The film has a calm demeanor but is heartbreaking and a downer.

Alice Howland has always achieved success, she is a linguistics professor at the esteemed Columbia University in Manhattan and has a seemingly idyllic life. She lives an affluent lifestyle and has three grown, well-adjusted children.

Alec Baldwin plays John Howland and Kristen Stewart plays the most predominantly featured daughter, Lydia.

These points of perfection make the story and her gradual decline all the more tragic to watch. We root for Alice because she is an ideal character- kind, loving, and the perfect mother and wife.

How could a thing like this happen to her? When she goes for a jog near her campus and suddenly does not recognize her surroundings or where she is, the audience shares Alice’s confusion.

The primary reason to watch the film is for the astounding performance that Julianne Moore gives, as Alice. The film borders on a good Lifetime television movie, albeit, much better than that and arguably in the same vein.

The acting sets this one above the mediocre largely due to Moore- with a lesser actress, I ponder how the film would have succeeded.

The tender scenes are wonderful. When Alice wets her pants, the audience also feels her humiliation. When she breaks down in fear and anxiety we do the same with her.

The supporting cast also deserves praise, specifically Baldwin and Stewart. While not entirely fleshed out characters, their lending of support to their wife and mother respectively makes the characters themselves sympathetic and likable.

An important scene in an ice-cream parlor late in the film when John asks Alice if she “really wants to be here” is misunderstood by Alice making the importance of what he is asking even more profound.

A scene where a coherent Alice, early in her diagnosis, leaves instructions for herself via video, to be seen when she is further along in her illness, is suspenseful and left me rooting for the result to be one way, which could be interpreted as drastic, and left me conflicted.

Masterfully done.

My only criticism is that despite the subject matter of Alzheimer’s disease which is devastating and life-altering not only for the victim but for the family, the film has a safe feel to it.

I would have liked darker, grittier moments throughout the film to make it even more effective.

Not a happily ever after story, bleaker moments might have prevailed. And, centered on Moore, it also might have been interesting to explore more of the effects the family has and will go through, especially Baldwin’s John.

His character and Lydia could have been explored more deeply instead of merely supporting and comforting Alice.

Still Alice (2014) is worth seeing if only for the performance of Julianne Moore, a talented actress doing a brilliant job in the title role.

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-Best Actress-Julianne Moore (won)

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 1 win-Best Female Lead-Julianne Moore (won)