Francoise Ozon, the out French auteur who makes one diverting movie after another (8 Women, Swimming Pool, Under the Sand, Time to Leave, etc.) is back with In the House, a delicious, razor-sharp black—really black—comedy thriller that is an intricately plotted puzzle box. The movie—which favorably calls to mind Alexander Payne's Election, and which Ozon adapted from a play by Juan Mayorga—opens this Friday, May 10, at the Landmark Century Centre Cinemas, 2828 N. Clark St.
Germain Germain (Fabrice Luchini, in an expertly droll performance) has been the literature teacher at a provincial French high school for a long time. He's bored and contemptuous after years of reading the mundane scribblings of his students. So when he comes across an essay by 16-year-old Claude (Ernst Umhauer), who writes about his new friendship with affable fellow student Rapha (Bastien Ughetto) and what he observes when Ralpha invites him into his home, he recognizes a budding talent.
Even though Claude has described what he has seen and felt in embarrassingly intimate detail—potentially hurtful stuff for Rapha and his parents—Germain nevertheless encourages Claude to keep writing. In Claude, the jaded Germain finally sees a talent worth nurturing and after proffering private tutoring sessions and stacks of books from his personal collection Germain insists that the most important thing in Claude's life must be to keep those stories coming.
Claude keeps at it, his own agenda apparently in mind, and like a teenage Scheherazade, he ends each installment about life inside Rapha's home, in which he has insinuated himself, with that most tantalizing of phrases: "To be continued." Almost immediately both Germain and his wife Jeanne (Kristin Scott-Thomas), who runs a failing art gallery, are hooked on Claude's insights about Rapha's "perfect family." But in urging Claude to keep writing, the egotistical, disdainful Germain unwittingly sets in motion an ever increasing web of intrigue which quickly spins out of his control. Germain is so seduced by Claude's writing and his bewitching manner that even though he's not gay Jeanne eventually asks him why he is so taken with the handsome young man, intuiting that perhaps he has realized a late in life preference for men. But it's only Claude's writing that Germain cares about—or is it?
Like the misguided teacher in the aforementioned Election and Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal, In the House seems to be heading Germain toward an unavoidable cliff. But Ozon's script offers a rather inventive variation on the expected trajectory for both teacher and student in this devilishly entertaining movie. http://landmarktheatres.com/
I can't be the only avid filmgoer, albeit a professional one, that is a tad shall we say, blasé about yet another by-the-numbers Marvel Comic Studios movie. Robert Downey, Jr., whose career was reignited by his sensational turn in Iron Man way back in 2007 is still in there doing his job in Iron Man 3, bringing his megawatt personality (and I do mean that sincerely) to a franchise that is giving him less and less of a return with each sequel.
Downey is what made the character of zillionaire/mad inventor Tony Stark so fast, smart and likeable in that first go-round—with his droll humor, his keen intelligence and his overwhelming confidence (not to mention his cute looks and hot bod). But that ring-a-ding playboy mentality was tamed at the end of the first movie when Stark hooked up romantically with his personal assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) who then took over Stark Industries. And his inventiveness, too, has been curbed ever since.
What's also missing from this middling, sorta entertaining new installment of the franchise is one single moment of surprise or real feeling. Not one special effect feels "special." Not one scene really rewards the headache induced by wearing the essential 3-D dark glasses. Iron Man 3 is certainly a well-oiled machine, just like so many of its compatriots are. But it's a movie only in the way that Domino's Pizza is pizza. You order it because it's fast, convenient and fairly inexpensive. You eat it because you are hungry. Not because you want to dine. And certainly not because you want to feed your soul.
Note: A longer version of this review is available at the Windy City Times website.
Film notes:
—Let's go camping this weekend: Camp-movie fans will have three days of "so bad they're good" pictures to choose from this weekend. Showgirls—the infamous 1995 raunchy ultratrash from director Paul Verhoeven, a Vegas stripper variation on All About Eve with lap dancer Elizabeth Berkley doing everything to steal the glitter tassels away from the tinsel queen Gina Gershon—is showing Friday, May 10, and Saturday, May 11, at midnight at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema, 2828 N. Clark St.
Also on Saturday, May 11, Lew Ojeda, Tyler Pistorius and Demetra Materis aka The Underground Multiplex present a midnight interactive screening of the 2002 gay indie Ben & Arthur as part of the long-running late-night Facets Night School film series (Facets Cinematheque, 1517 W. Fullerton Ave.). Camp fans are encouraged to bring along a cellphone, sugar packets, a stuffed toy cat and newspapers to increase the fun (all presumably used in Rocky Horror fashion throughout the screening). Ojeda will also discuss the history of interactive movies during the evening. http://theundergroundmultiplex.wordpress.com/
The weekend camping movie trip ends Sunday, May 12, with the return of Camp Midnight's Mother's Day with Mommie Dearest at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave. Dick O'Day (my alter ego) hosts the pre-show, which starts in the lobby at 1:30 p.m. with photos of David Cerda and Ed Jones (of Hell and a Handbag Productions notoriety) as Joan Crawford and Christina followed by a costume contest, music box organ sing-a-long,and 2:15 p.m. interactive screening of the 1981 camptacular classic. The first 100 guests in their seats also get a commemorative wire hanger. There's a brunch option as well—starting at 11:30 at the Mystic Celt, 3443 N. Southport Ave.—involving members of the Big Gay Brunch Club. Advance tickets at www.musicboxtheatre.com
—Director Baz Luhrmann's long-awaited adaptation of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic 1920s novel starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan was not screened in time for deadlines. An online review will appear shortly.
