The Truth – 5

I have to admit I don’t know what this film was about, although Siri’s comparison to the previous film by Kore-eda, Shopkeepers, was apt: what constitutes a family. Ethan Hawke seemed to have stumbled in from Before Midnight, in which he was equally lost; the husband Pierre seemed left over from Boudu Saved from Drowning. The director appeared intent on making Catherine Deneuve as unappealing as possible (then why sell the film as a Deneuve vehicle?): heavy, chain-smoking, insecure and inconsiderate, perpetually frowning. Nor was the character of an aging actress remotely original. Juliette Binoche shone, as usual, and the young daughter was a breath of fresh air. But the personal relationships–which presumably was the motif of the film–weren’t convincing, and the plotting was desultory. The Binoche-Hawke family had ostensibly come from America for the publication of Deneuve’s memoirs, but there wasn’t even a publication party in sight.