Claudine's Return

this was a fairly confused film, that seemed to suffer from a failure of a sense of 'place'--at times i felt i was in hipster berlin, in some basement bordello, at times on a wild georgia coast. their was something odd and peculiar about the location, sets, and sexuality of the main characters, that i could never really put my finger on. nevertheless, Christina applegate turns in a surprisingly subtle, smart, and wry performance, the cinematography is LOVELY in the outdoor settings, and there are comic, as well as a few almost mystically beautiful moments. along with some very clunky and dumb ones. one gets the feeling the film is very much a MISS, but that their must have been something interesting underlying the story that never quite made it to the surface. atmospheric, Christina is great, but ultimately, only an interestingly, occasionally downright muddled misfire...

I'm sorry to say I rented this with a clear head. Under-developed story, little use of Applegate's ability as a fine actress, and no nudity ruined this film. I kept thinking to myself "If there was just the occasional breast, the movie would be fine." I was wrong, but what the hey?

The characters were sorely undeveloped. The story was never shown to the viewer. The "past" that Applegate is trying to conquer and escape is never shown.

And what kind of morons do the writers think we watchers are? The blonde kid in the car? The flash to the future? Come on.

Never rent this. Ever.

My dish: 1 out of ten, and that's my being gracious.

Christina Applegate put in a great performance in her interpretation of the role of Claudine. The rest of the movie did not support her performance, however. The plot was weak, with the only substantive storyline occurring in the first 15 mins., and the last 15 mins. The rest of the movie could have been cut, and the audience would not have missed much. Tibaldi's direction used a lot of close shots, and free camera work, that actually detracted from the story. In scenes where the audience might have wanted to pay attention, we were getting distracted by the edgy camera motions. There were a number of subplots that never played into the story, and ended up like flotsam on a beach, with no purpose.

I admit I got this movie partly as a goof and partly because I was interested to see Christiana Applegate in a movie the box suggested (name change to "Kiss of Fire" and more, it was rather funny really) was a trashy genre film. I actually enjoyed Applegate, who does not have much of a career outside of "Married ... w Children" (sadly, since she has potential), in the low budget film "Streets," I hoped this was similiar fare. It turns out to be a character study with some seedy elements and bad (and somewhat inconsistent) accents. It would have been nice if I knew a bit more about the characters I was watching, and the ending was rather sudden and pointless. Also, the whole little girl symbolism was just one of the stylistic touches that just didn't work.

Nonetheless, I do recommend people to watch the film for Christiana Applegate's performance. Not only does she look great in the film (no nudity, sorry, though she does a good dance scene), but she gives a rather good performance, and the accent isn't that bad (shock really to hear it given her past roles and all). Actually, she is the film -- the loser she hooks up is written and performed in such a lackluster fashion that you soon wish he would just go somewhere. The role would have even been better if it was written better; for instance, what motivates her to moonlight as a stripper? what about the hints of bisexuality? what is the point of the final scenes? The fact Applegate still shined suggests she has a future as an actress, if only she gets some good roles to show her talent.

This is a surprisingly great movie.

Christina Applegate's performance as well as that of Stephano are extremely well done and offer great depth. The characters are interesting and the many ancillary characters help to create a slightly bizarre atmosphere.

I thought the screenplay, direction, cinematography and sound were all top notch and added a lot to the overall feeling of the movie. The camera work, especially, was very creative and interesting.

This is not a feel good movie and it dances at the edge of the darkside of humanity. If you feel like an interesting, off-the-beaten-path, moody flick - this is a good choice.