There is no action except talking, unless you figure that two people getting in and out of a car is action. The movie is essentially one long conversation between James and a women, billed as "Elle" (Juliette Binoche). James is an art historian and Elle is an antique dealer specializing in art. James has just written a book, "Certified Copy" which asks why good reproductions should not be equally as valuable as originals. The book appears to be one of those that takes an idea of some merit and intellectualizes it to death, like asking if an original of anything exists, or if we are only DNA reproductions of our parents, or if a tree is not to be considered an original work of art? The conversation struck me as only a slight cut above what you might hear in a typical college dorm.
Halfway through we are thrown a curve ball. While at a restaurant James steps out to take a phone call during which the proprietor dispenses wisdom to Elle about male/female relationships, like how a wife should be happy that her husband works, since work is necessary for a man, allowing the wife to live her own life. The proprietor mistakes Elle and James for husband and wife and Elle does not dispute that assumption. From here on I was left to deduce whether James and Elle had known each other in the past and were play-acting at the beginning, or weather they had just met and were play-acting after James' return to the restaurant.
Perhaps a point is being made about the relationship between perception and reality, or that maybe perception *is* reality. There was a scene between Elle and her young son Julien in a café where he asks her why James did not sign his book using Julien's surname. This question so upsets Elle that she runs out of the café. I thought that there must be some significance in that scene. Does James have an alias with the same surname as Julien? Is James Julien's father out of wedlock? I could not ultimately make any reasonable inferences about this scene, though I feel it is of importance. In the end I found the message being delivered, if there is one, so muddled that I lost patience in trying to figure it out.
I found James to be a cynical, pretentious, obnoxious, and petulant pedant. The main positive is Juliette Binoche who is almost always worth watching no matter what movie she is in. While her performance is not without interest here, it was not enough to save the day for me. The production values are high and there are some nice scenes of the Tuscany countryside.
Halfway through we are thrown a curve ball. While at a restaurant James steps out to take a phone call during which the proprietor dispenses wisdom to Elle about male/female relationships, like how a wife should be happy that her husband works, since work is necessary for a man, allowing the wife to live her own life. The proprietor mistakes Elle and James for husband and wife and Elle does not dispute that assumption. From here on I was left to deduce whether James and Elle had known each other in the past and were play-acting at the beginning, or weather they had just met and were play-acting after James' return to the restaurant.
Perhaps a point is being made about the relationship between perception and reality, or that maybe perception *is* reality. There was a scene between Elle and her young son Julien in a café where he asks her why James did not sign his book using Julien's surname. This question so upsets Elle that she runs out of the café. I thought that there must be some significance in that scene. Does James have an alias with the same surname as Julien? Is James Julien's father out of wedlock? I could not ultimately make any reasonable inferences about this scene, though I feel it is of importance. In the end I found the message being delivered, if there is one, so muddled that I lost patience in trying to figure it out.
I found James to be a cynical, pretentious, obnoxious, and petulant pedant. The main positive is Juliette Binoche who is almost always worth watching no matter what movie she is in. While her performance is not without interest here, it was not enough to save the day for me. The production values are high and there are some nice scenes of the Tuscany countryside.