Jalil Lespert is the latest French actor to have eyes for directing and to his credit far from something feel-good he's opted for a downbeat storyline which he tells in the style of a jazz riff and perhaps in an effort to ensure we appreciate this he signed veteran jazz musician Archie Shepp and gives him a substantial role in the final sequence. Basically Lespert takes four disparate people, a hooker, a cab-driver, a semi-society girl and a jazz musician and allows their paths to cross albeit briefly. With not much more than that it's all in the wrists and by and large it's a reasonable first effort though a little more lightness wouldn't have gone amiss.
Review of 24 Bars
