This is an unabashed vehicle for French star Isabelle Huppert, who gets to sing a lot -though her voice is weak and her stage persona with arms flailing about looks like an audition for the lead in a French touring company of the Broadway hit musical "The Band's Visit". It doesn't matter -her name is all that matters on such a project (even earning a token U.S. release by Strand Releasing).
But Bulle Ogier created the germ of a character way back in 1971, with her classic "La Salamandre", echoed (if not ripped off) in the initial scene establishing Huppert as a lowly assembly-line worker, monotonously adding garnishes to an endless line of pates.
The extremely corny script goes to all the expected places in this tale of a would-be comeback 30 years after for a girl who lost out in the European Song Contest to ABBA. She was a one-hit wonder, and just like in a sports movie (I've seen this ploy a hundred times, just recently even in a new Stormy Daniels horse-riding movie!) has to get back together with the evil manager who ruined her life way back when, just to get a second shot at the Show Biz brass ring.
For me it is especially sad how movies have taken the wrong turn in recent decades, suffering from the foolish notion that "Independent" production magically countervails the horrible trend toward commercial blockbuster domination of production (e.g., the endless Marvel crap). Just as American "indies" tend to be boring and precious, so too is the Euro model, with dozens of co-producers and subsidizers, backing a vanity production like this on an amateur level. And casting Huppert is ultimately ludicrous: as the longest-running superstar from France she is hardly the choice for "comeback" role; check out Gloria Swanson in Wilder's "Sunset Blvd." -perfect matching for a "comeback", as opposed to hiring a then (1950) current superstar to play Norma Desmond.
But Bulle Ogier created the germ of a character way back in 1971, with her classic "La Salamandre", echoed (if not ripped off) in the initial scene establishing Huppert as a lowly assembly-line worker, monotonously adding garnishes to an endless line of pates.
The extremely corny script goes to all the expected places in this tale of a would-be comeback 30 years after for a girl who lost out in the European Song Contest to ABBA. She was a one-hit wonder, and just like in a sports movie (I've seen this ploy a hundred times, just recently even in a new Stormy Daniels horse-riding movie!) has to get back together with the evil manager who ruined her life way back when, just to get a second shot at the Show Biz brass ring.
For me it is especially sad how movies have taken the wrong turn in recent decades, suffering from the foolish notion that "Independent" production magically countervails the horrible trend toward commercial blockbuster domination of production (e.g., the endless Marvel crap). Just as American "indies" tend to be boring and precious, so too is the Euro model, with dozens of co-producers and subsidizers, backing a vanity production like this on an amateur level. And casting Huppert is ultimately ludicrous: as the longest-running superstar from France she is hardly the choice for "comeback" role; check out Gloria Swanson in Wilder's "Sunset Blvd." -perfect matching for a "comeback", as opposed to hiring a then (1950) current superstar to play Norma Desmond.