Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Keith Carradine | ... | Nick Hart | |
Linda Fiorentino | ... | Rachel Stone | |
Wallace Shawn | ... | Oiseau | |
Geneviève Bujold | ... | Libby Valentin (as Genevieve Bujold) | |
Geraldine Chaplin | ... | Nathalie de Ville | |
Kevin J. O'Connor | ... | Hemingway | |
John Lone | ... | Bertram Stone | |
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Charlélie Couture | ... | L'Evidence (as Charlelie Couture) |
Elsa Raven | ... | Gertrude Stein | |
Ali Giron | ... | Alice B. Toklas | |
Gailard Sartain | ... | New York Critic | |
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Michael Wilson | ... | Surrealist Poet |
Robert Gould | ... | Blackie | |
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Antonia Dauphin | ... | Babette |
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Véronique Bellegarde | ... | Laurette (as Veronique Bellegarde) |
Nick Hart is a struggling American artist who lives amongst the expatriate community in 1920s Paris. He spends most of his time drinking and socializing in local cafés and pestering gallery owner Libby Valentin to sell his paintings. He becomes involved in a plot by wealthy art patroness Nathalie de Ville to forge three paintings. This leads to several run-ins with American rubber magnate Bertram Stone, who happens to be married to Hart's ex-wife Rachel. Written by measham
This film is, first of all, a love story--but a remarkably surprising one, and by no means ordinary. It starts with the usual expectations most of us have about Paris that Woody Allen recently utilized so effectively in Midnight In Paris, but instead of broad comedy, Director Alan Rudolph weaves a fascinating tale of intrigue in the art world, and peppers it with wit and ambiguity.
The smoky Parisian ambiance of Bohemian Cafes (mostly created in Canada) introduce the viewer to Keith Carradine's stereotypical starving artist--except that Carradine's role is written to surprise, and one is drawn into a labyrinth of conflicting emotions very quickly indeed. This film, like Thieves Like Us, demonstrates what a fine under-utilized actor Carradine continues to be.
The feeling of elation that comes from escaping from one's cares in another place washes through every bar and café and art opening, and the performances from such vibrant actors as kinky Geraldine Chaplin and quirky Wallace Shawn--and especially the intensely cold and controlled and fascinating John Lone enliven the two hours that linger long after the film is finished.