By Matthew Moorcroft

Weak Recommendation

• Directed by Rebecca Zlotowski
• Starring Jodie Foster, Daniel Auteuil, Virginie Efira, Mathieu Amalric
• R

A strange, almost self-analytical “murder” mystery that’s honestly more about it’s investigator then the supposed crime itself, A Private Life certainly has it’s work cut out for it. It wants to be a sophisticated character study that plays with time, perspective, and dream logic, but it also has it’s tongue firmly placed in it’s cheek for a good chunk of the runtime. It knows much of it’s material is preposterous, even just plain silly, so it wants to have a ball with itself and just kind of let the wheels come off on purpose.

And yet, it almost works. Key word is almost, as while A Private Life certainly has style to spare and lots of great performance in the midst of it’s tangled web of relationships, it ultimately lacks much in the way of substance and has a great aversion to actually dissecting any of the points or ideas it attempts to bring up. It’s a mystery film whose mystery is ultimately not interesting enough to really propel it forward and also somehow too difficult to actually follow so when the reveals about what actually did happen, well, happen, it lacks that satisfying “aha!” moment that so many whodunnits require. The Knives Out movies this is not.

It’s really lucky for it then that Jodie Foster is such a likable presence in general that it saves the entire affair. Using her natural fluency in French but also status as a foreigner in this otherwise entirely France based cast of characters as part of the draw, Foster’s dry wit here mixed with her usual stoicism make for a great combination when paired against the slightly more aloof but loyal Daniel Auteuil, whose chemistry with Foster is one that both sexually charged while also steeped in a level of bite that would feel right at home in a buddy cop film. It’s really that dynamic that carries much of the film, particularly in the second half as the mystery becomes more and more strange and steeped in literally psychosexual, Freudian like conspiracy theories.

I guess, in a roundabout way then, it makes sense that a psychiatrist would be at the center of this tale. A psychiatrist who herself seemingly has some of her own unpacking to do, especially as clients come in with what she sees as benign issues only for them to quickly lose that benign status when either tragedy (death) or retribution (lawsuit for emotional damages) strikes. It’s a shame then that those more self-critical elements are only explored vaguely and in passing much like the dream sequences themselves, which only seem to exist for brief moments of dark comedy later on. That self-criticism, particularly in regards to the mystery at large and how it’s mostly founded on gut feelings over actual hard evidence, could have resulted in something not just profound but likely hilarious, but alas the film seems content with sticking with pleasantly quirky over actually challenging.

Still though, it’s got style to spare in it’s construction. The snappy editing keeps things moving at a briskly enjoyable pace, it’s comedic writing is consistently strong thankfully, and it’s got plenty of fun camera placements and movements that make sure it’s also never boring to look at. For better or worse, A Private Life is proof that sometimes a keen visual eye can do a lot of heavy lifting, and combine that with an absolutely fantastic needle drop of Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” you have, at least, a good time in the moment.

And yeah, it’s certainly a good time! I can’t say I was ever actually bored by A Private Life, which is frankly an endorsement that feels negative on it’s face but in this case I think it works. It’s a film that could have so easily worn out it’s welcome quickly – particularly as it’s brand of dark comedy begins to run out of material to mine without resorting to cutaways or bizarre happenstances. But instead, at a brisk 103 minutes, it basically wraps up as soon as you would get sick of it and leaving the mystery mostly as an afterthought, as unfournate as that is.

I don’t know if A Private Life will have much of a shelf life beyond it’s usual festival circuit run because of it’s mostly barebone approach to genuinely interesting material, but I think in the moment it works as a capsule to how you can wring great moments out of very little. If anything, it’s proof that really all you need to have successful time is put Jodie Foster in your picture, which is advice I think more directors should heed, frankly.