Annette, a swooningly dark fairy tale musical, may not be for everyone, but it is a gloriously operatic movie that finally knows what to do with Adam Driver.
Here, he gets to sing, do stand-up comedy, brood, rage and engage in sexy love scenes with Marion Cotillard
It’s a given that Cotillard, who nabbed an Oscar as Edith Piaf and co-starred in the musical Nine, is very much at home as a beloved opera diva. (Although, as in La Vie en Rose, she does not do her own singing in her stage scenes.)
Driver plays Henry, a comedian who’s billed as “The Ape of God,” and who takes the stage robed as a boxer, whipping around his mic like a weapon.
He loves Ann (Cotillard), who’s from an entirely different, more rarefied world.
Every night, she tragically dies on stage before taking her bows, while he delights his audience with his savage, edgy word play.
The tabloids play the role of Greek chorus here, documenting the couple’s love, their marriage, the birth of little Annette and predicting doom when the first cracks in their relationship appear. It’s very much a show business movie, in the vein of A Star is Born, about the pressures and dangers of fame and the clash of egos.
The story and songs are by the Mael Brothers, aka the pop group Sparks, and from the first ensemble song “So May We Start”, we know we’re in very good hands. Driver, as fans already know, has a fantastic singing voice and when Henry’s routine takes a disturbing turn and audiences begin booing him, he sings the f-bomb-laden “you used to laugh,” sounding remarkably like Goth rocker Nick Cave
French director Leos Carax, as he did in his 1991 film Lovers on the Bridge, portrays the woman as Beauty, who is in danger of losing everything because of the Beast that she loves.
Every time we see Ann, she has just taken one perfect bite out of an apple, making her either Eve in the garden, or Snow White. And that makes Henry — who’s always seen in his green boxer’s robe or a leather jacket of the same shade — either the serpent or a wicked witch of sorts.
Besides the two leads, I was astonished at how fantastic Big Bang Theory star Simon Helberg is as The Conductor. I was not aware that Helberg could sing and he’s given terrific material as the bitter musician who loved Ann before she met Henry.
Realism is never Carax’s goal: A dramatic scene on a boat takes place in front of a sea that is clearly a rear projection.
The care with which he crafts this small, strange world is compelling and there’s genuine suspense as we find out about Annette’s unusual gift, which I won’t spoil here.
It’s a lush experience of a film I’m eager to watch again.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
* * * * *
Produced by Adam Driver, Charles Gillibert, Paul-Dominique Win Vacharasinthu
Story by Ron Mael and Russell Mael
Screenplay by Ron Mael, Russell Mael, Leos Carax
Directed by Leos Carax
Starring Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, Simon Helberg, Devyn McDowell
