'Cringeworthy' is an understatement

jomo6923

I have never written a movie review on this or any other web-site but after paining myself through the embarrassment which this film was I felt that it was almost my social duty to deter anybody from losing 2 1/2 hours of their life by watching this nonsense.

I am struggling to find anything which this film provided in the 'positive' bracket, I suppose I could concede that some of the background montages are eye-catching/attractive and Dustin Hoffman's character quirkiness was mildly entertaining but even this is scraping the remnants from a pretty sour tasting barrel.

OK where to start with 'what was wrong'. It may not seem a particularly highbrow criticism to brand a film as 'boring' but I swear, you will wait for something to happen the entire 140 mins. of this film only for the embarrassment that is the 'climax' (no pun intended) to leave you cringing and wondering how this movie could even endanger the segment of success. Grenouille starts off with a very well developed sense of smell. By the time we reach the scene with him chasing after Richis he has somehow transformed this into a Spiderman like non-human ability to detect a scent from miles and miles away – simply adding to the film's already diminishing believability. There was also the ever-present and hugely irritating narration - constantly grinding away at, certainly for me, an already unimpressed and crabby viewer. Why must this movie cater for those who cannot follow a story and need to be baby-trotted through every stodgy scene? Admittedly the narration is probably an indication of the woolly and uninspiring script.

I simply do not have the vocabulary to sum up this review with enough pomp that could render it ground-breaking, but what I will say is that for those of you who do decide to check out this quaint and embarrassing film be prepared to be left angry, fully unsatisfied and lamenting the fact that the final scenes have left you with no hair left to pull out!

score 1/10

jomo6923 6 March 2008

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1834336/