Mathieu Demy's AMERICANO: a Frenchman in Southern California & Mexico. Ay, ay, ay!

What happens to French filmmakers when they come to Southern California (and then, god help them, head for Mexico)? I ask because I have noted some very talented Frenchmen like Jacques Demy (with his Model Shop), Erick Zonca (with Julia) and now Demy's own son, Mathieu Demy, fall prey to -- what is it? -- the come-to-LA-LA-land-and-lose-your-marbles syndrome? Then move on to Mexico, as do Zonca and Demy fils, and go completely bonkers. (Demy père managed to stay in L.A., as I recall.)

Truth to tell, this is the younger Demy's first full-length film as writer and director (and star, too: he's shown above), so I am much more familiar with this fellow via his often excellent acting. Most recently he's been seen here as the dad in the fine movie Tomboy and on VOD in the very interesting, student-as-prostitute tale, Student Services (Mes chères études). What to make of his film-making debut? Whew! Of all the movies TrustMovies saw at this year's Rendez-vous With French Cinema, where AMERICANO made its New York debut last March, this was the stinker of the bunch.

The movie begins with Mr. Demy's character cuming (yes, he's having sex) and it ends with him on the phone to his girlfriend (the highly wasted Chiara Mastroianni, and I mean the role, not the actress) telling her, "I'm coming" (meaning he's returning to France). I don't know that the joke is intentional, but I would dearly like to think so, for it is just about the the only amusement the movie provides. Otherwise, this tale of a repressed man named Martin (played by the consistently sad-eyed Demy), who comes to L.A. to pack up the belongings of his recently deceased but long estranged mother, is a bogus, pretentious fiasco. After spending a few minutes with Martin, I found the man so ridiculous, so willfully stupid that I just wanted to slap him silly. This also seems to be the feeling of many of the other characters in the film. In fact, Martin gets slapped, beaten and knocked about so much (and so deliber-ately on his character's part) that you begin to wonder if Demy isn't going after the torture-me-some-more mantle of Mel Gibson.

Also involved in this mess are good actors like Salma Hayek (above, left: a mystery girl who turns sentimental and has a connection to another character we've seen), Geraldine Chaplin (below, right, and wasted as a one-note cliche who, at least, gets to slap Demy) and Carlos Bardem (two photos up, at left, as the Hayek character's pimp/protector, who really gives Martin a pummeling -- or ten). None of these actors can begin to latch on to anything approaching a real character, thanks to the pre-determined whims of the very poor screenplay (Demy again). Really: I don't know what to think. The wisest, kindest thing might be to proclaim happiness that the filmmaker has now gotten Americano out of his system and can move on to, well, just about anything else.

The movie -- 90 minutes (but they feel like 180), from MPI Pictures -- opens this Friday, June 15, in New York City at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema.

Zellweger & Whitaker fans, Olivier Dahan's MY OWN LOVE SONG goes straight to DVD

Remember Olivier Dahan? Even if you don't, you'll remem-ber the movie he directed and co-wrote, La Vie en Rose (original French title La môme) that was an enormous box-office smash internation-ally back in 2007 and won Marion Cotillard her Best Actress "Oscar." (Dahan also directed Crimson Rivers 2, a more mainstream -- and actually better, more entertaining -- version of its predecessor that boasts one of the best chase scenes in movie history.)  So what's this guy been doing of late? The answer, of course, is MY OWN LOVE SONG, a movie he made in 2009, right here in the USA.

Politely put, the film's a mess, and yet it is never for an instant unwatchable, sometimes much more than that, and now and again simply riveting -- visually and vocally. Dahan, shown at right, does what so many foreign filmmakers do when given the chance to shoot in America: He goes bananas. Tossing just about everything (well, there isn't a serial killer) into this road trip, the writer/director tells the story of a woman (Renée Zellweger) who used to be a singer until she had an auto accident, during and after which she lost a lot of things, including her young son. So she and her BFF mental patient (played by Forest Whitaker) hit that road so that he can attend a lecture by his hero (a man who offers his flock belief in angels and ghosts) and she can accompany him (it's her car).

Along the way they meet folk like Elias Koteas (as an over-sexed sleazeball), Madeline Zima, above, right, with Zellweger (as a sweetie-pie looking for her missing hubby) and Nick Nolte (an over-the-hill musician harboring some secrets). There are others, too. During one extended sequence, the filmmaker simply shoots a bunch of fabulous-looking faces and people, not bothering to tell us much about them at all. Yet the sequence works well enough, as does so much else in the movie, including even some colorful fantasy bits (one such appears, with Whitaker, below) and others that, out of nowhere, use animation.

The road trip format, coupled to the looniness of the characters -- especially, Whitaker, Zima,  Nolte and Koteas -- give the film a kind of "anything goes" quality which, together with Zellweger's quiet strength, manages to holds things together. At 105 minutes, the movie has an unhurried pace; as quirky/crazy as the people and events become, the movie is never pushy. When it dawdles, we dawdle right along -- never more so than with the song "I Believe in You," accompanied by lovely visuals of the cast. Much of the music is by Bob Dylan, who is said to have written some songs especially for the film.

Dylan's stuff is OK, but the musical highlight comes as Zellweger takes the stage to sing Woody Guthrie's This Land Is Your Land. Wearing little make-up throughout the film and nailing each moment, Zellweger is as good in this role as she has been since the under-seen and under-sung Leatherheads. And what a wonderful, occasionally raspy but always rich voice she has! Hearing her sing this great song will make you wish that she had indeed played the Janis Joplin role that was said to be on tap for her. Is it too late, I wonder?

Meanwhile we have this odd little movie to keep us entertained but expecting more and better from all concerned. Available on DVD (the movie only), Blu-ray (with a few extras) and via streaming (from Netflix), this Inception Media Group release is worth a watch, especially for fans of Whitaker and Zellweger. We also get the expected "pro" results from Nolte and Koteas, while the dear Ms Zima is an unalloyed delight.