Amelie (2001) Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Dominique Pinon, Isabelle Nanty, Serge Merlin. Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Screenplay by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Guillaume Laurant. Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. 120 minutes. Rated R, 4 stars (out of five stars)
Review by Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly www.nuvo.net Archive reviews at http://reviews.imdb.com/ReviewsBy?Edward+Johnson-Ott To receive reviews by e-mail at no charge, send subscription requests to ejohnsonott@prodigy.net or e-mail ejohnsonott-subscribe@onelist.com with the word "subscribe" in the subject line.
Oh God, how I tried to avoid this movie. At first, it was because so many people referred to it as "cute." I don't know about you, but unless it's being used to describe children or puppies, "cute" is a word I don't want to hear. It conjures up sickly-sweet visions of things like ceramic knick-knacks, "Ziggy" cartoons and Meg Ryan. Then the TV ads began, proclaiming the film "life-affirming," "heart-warming," "magical" and other Oprah words. Posters and print ads for the film that used a photo of actor Audrey Tautou looks like a pixie certainly didn't help, either.
Soon, the brow beating started. "Ed, have you seen Amelie yet? It's the most acclaimed film out of France in years. Even people who hate subtitles love it!" "Ed, you've got to go to 'Amelie.' It won the audience award at the Toronto film festival. Go – you owe it to your readers!" Like most people, I react strongly when others try to force-feed a movie to me. And evoking my readers in the arm-twisting was especially annoying because it was true.
Eventually, I went to the Castleton Arts Cinema to get the movie over with and damned if I didn't fall asleep during the coming attractions. I took that as a sign from above and decided to wash my hands of the whole thing. But curiosity finally got the best of me and I went back again, this time ready and well rested.
And now I must report to you that… oh hell, it's good. Very good. It's charming and inventive and witty and, well, you get the idea.
The film, from the makers of "Delicatessen" and "The City of Lost Children," introduces Amelie Poulain (Tautou), a meek young waitress who exists on the periphery of life. Friendless and loveless, her world changes when she comes across a box of old snapshots and toys hidden in a small drawer in her apartment. Amelie makes it her quest to find the owner and return the treasures. Not only does she succeed, but the man she returns the box to ends up reconciling with his son as a result. Elated, Amelie decides to find more ways to do good for those in her neighborhood.
That's really all you need to know. In other hands, the film could easily have achieved no higher level than "cute," but Tautou is a beguiling performer and the movie-makers are clever. They periodically speed up the film (this could easily degrade into cuteness, but they keep it in check) and stage scenes with style. Numerous characters are introduced by a voiceover that runs through their likes and dislikes (popping bubble wrap is one person's turn-on). Most importantly, the characters, quirky though they may be, come across as human beings, not creations from the arts and crafts class in Whimsy Town.
So there you go. All of you who kept yammering at me can settle down now. I saw "Amelie." I truly enjoyed "Amelie."
But I'm not happy about it.
© 2001 Ed Johnson-Ott
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