'French Exit' Review
R: For language and sexual references.
Runtime: 1 Hr and 50 Minutes
Production Companies: Elevation Pictures, Rocket Science, Screen Siren Pictures, Blinder Films, Telefilm Canada, Terminal City Pictures, Saalgo Productions
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Director: Azazel Jacobs
Writers: Patrick DeWitt
Cast: Michelle Pfeiffer, Lucas Hedges, Tracy Letts, Danielle Macdonald, Imogen Poots
Release Date: February 12, 2021
“My plan was to die before the money ran out,” says 60-year-old penniless Manhattan socialite Frances Price (Michelle Pfeiffer), but things didn’t go as planned. Her husband Franklin has been dead for 12 years and with his vast inheritance gone, she cashes in the last of her possessions and resolves to live out her twilight days anonymously in a borrowed apartment in Paris, accompanied by her directionless son Malcolm (Lucas Hedges) and a cat named Small Frank—who may or may not embody the spirit of Frances’s dead husband.
Director Azazel Jacobs, who helmed one of my favorite movies of 2017 (The Lovers), returns to tell another surrealist comedic tale about a dysfunctional family. Based on the novel by Patrick DeWitt, French Exit centers on Frances, a snobbish, nearly broke, widowed Manhattan socialite who travels from NYC to Paris with her insipid and proper son Malcolm and her cat, whom she believes is the spiritual embodiment of her late husband.
While I haven’t seen much of Jacobs's previous works outside of The Lovers, it’s clear that he has a knack for telling quirky, entertaining stories about estranged parents and their neurotic children. While The Lovers was a bouncy and quick-witted comedy, French Exit offers a slow-burn skeleton. The film prospers from its slow pace, which allows the audience to see the perspectives of Frances and Malcolm, who lead privileged, yet dull lives. They dress in such exquisite fashion everywhere they go, for it’s the last ounce of high class they have left to their name. The film’s major emotional clutch is the relationship between mother and son and how they navigate this crucial point in their lives. They are not likable by any means because they are both snobbish in their own right. As the film progresses, it reveals how poorly they treated others when they had wealth. That being said, they are fascinating characters to watch and you really gravitate towards the relationship between Malcolm and Frances.
If there’s anything that I downright love about French Exit, it’s the relationship between Frances and Malcolm. That’s the film’s heaviest strength as she treats her only son as her ward more so than her offspring. It’s interesting to see how this prevents Malcolm from accomplishing anything or making decisions on his own, such as committing to his longtime girlfriend (Imogen Poots). There’s no way that Frances can survive on her own without Malcolm, who is practically her only friend, so to speak. It’s similar to the power dynamic between Eli and Charlie in DeWitt’s novel The Sisters Brothers, where Eli is the keeper to his rambunctious chaotic brother, Charlie. Frances is clearly mentally unstable as she speaks about doing dark, dangerous things. Since Malcolm was solely raised by her, he’s grown accustomed to her wackiness, so he’s unbothered by it, which I find to be so enticing. Malcolm is clearly his mother’s keeper and, despite her unfiltered, self-centered nature, you can see the love he has for her.
Michelle Pfeiffer still got it, man. Her performance in French Exit proves that she is one of the best working actresses in the business today. I’m so glad she’s still getting fun roles that let her showcase her full talent to remind you that she’s Michelle fucking Pfeiffer. She’s absolutely committed to this role and does a great job performing as this charismatic, snobbish, upscale woman with a psychotic edge. When it’s not focused on being an absurd surrealist comedy, the film plays more like a deep character study and she is the primary focal point. Lucas Hedges is also fantastic as Malcolm and commits as much as Pfeiffer.
Though I do have problems with the humor, which is frustratingly inconsistent at times, the script features sharp and witty dialogue that is carried by the large ensemble cast. The more time you spend with the already offbeat Frances and Malcolm, the quirkier the world outside of them becomes as you’re introduced to a barrage of strangers with their own bizarre personalities. By the time the film reaches its second half –– which largely takes place in an apartment interior –– the space becomes so crowded and chaotic that watching all of their personalities bounce off each other elevates the experience. One of my favorite supporting characters is a psychic that everyone refers to as a witch (played by Danielle Macdonald) that Malcolm hooks up with on a boat to Paris. Macdonald provides some of the best laughs due to her honest and chill attitude. When she returns for the film’s latter half, which introduces a surreal turning point that involves spiritualism, she steals the limelight with her dialogue and comedic timing.
While I did enjoy French Exit and its loose, quirky atmosphere, the humor fumbles often. It’s one of those indie comedies that, while enjoyable, tries to get by on being weird. Whenever the film starts to run low on steam, it throws in pointless sight gags to get a rise out of the audience, prolonging the running time as a result. The jokes that often work are in regard to either Frances’s or Malcolm’s personalities or their wealth, but the film tends to get random for the sake of being random without rhyme or reason. However, this is no criticism of the midpoint of the story. There comes a moment an hour into the film that makes you embrace the weirdness with an unforgettable scene involving a seance. Tracy Letts as the talking cat made my jaw drop.
