Le deuxième acte

Quentin Dupieux is a director who makes weird movies. You either hate or love his movies. Personally, he's a hit or miss for me as he has made some movies I really like but at the same time, movies I don't fully like. This new meta comedy that explores interesting themes of reality is an interesting concept and while the performances and concept is good, the poor approach, direction, and uninteresting characters doesn't do much justice.

Dupieux's direction on trying to make this a meta commentary on movies, reality and people is interesting. Breaking fiction between reality isn't new to discuss but a good concept. But with the humor and dialogue feeling pretty forced and insufferable, it causes many moments to feel as it's nothing, and causes the characters to be pretty unbearable. It thinks it's clever but it's not, it feels painted, thin, and insufferable. I understand the intent and what Dupieux is wanting to approach, but unfortunately it really doesn't work.

The performances from the cast are all talented actors I love and they are doing their best. There are some decent long take moments that were a bit good. However as a whole, it's a tiresome of a movie. No doubt Quentin Dupieux is an interesting filmmaker but this one isn't great.

We saw this at a film festival in Poland with a packed audience and had a blast. I've seen Deerskin from the same director, so I knew something strange was coming, and I wasn't disappointed. But apart from the surreal twists and breaking the 4th wall as another reviewer noted, the performances were just magnifique: Each cast member felt like they were at the top of their game, and the laughs just kept coming. In Poland a celebrated trait is "distans do siebie", not taking yourself too seriously, and this quality was in full effect - every character put on airs, every human defect was exposed -- and it was a blast from start to finish. I was familiar with Louis Garrel, Lea Seydoux, and Vincent London, but Raphael Quenard was a nice surprise.

Recommend!

Quentin Dupieux's movie opening this year's Cannes is a movie about a movie about...a movie? This is all typical Dupieux, questioning our reality in clever ways, and I think everything comes together rather well here.

We follow two pairs of actors heading towards a meeting at a diner, with each breaking character and the fourth wall ever more often, generating layers of reality that are usually at odds with one another. Questions are asked overtly and implicitly: does anything matter, how do we construct our reality and what about a dash of almost present-day futurism?

And to top it all off, the movie ends on one of the more meta fourth wall breaks I've ever seen, a bit of a mind-scratcher that cleverly frames the syntax of movie-making.

I think the ultimate claim of LDA is that the one undeniable real thing is what we feel. Not in "feelings are facts" kind of way, but rather in the effect we can have on other people, whether seen on unseen, quantifiable or not. 7.

Don´t want to put too much into it, but I liked this little peace a lot, mostly because it has been shot in a kind of casual way, doesn´t seem to want to be "a big one".

It has got a different approach to the slightly surreal storytelling I had been expecting. The visuals are quite plain, the rhythm of this film is made by the actors. More dialog driven than most of his other movies, it plays with the cliches of shooting a film in a funny/clever way, has some nice twists, a not too subtle sense for self irony (of the actors and shooting independent film in AI times).... and a looong dolly track. See for yourself.

The cinematography is stunning - sharp, colorful, and detailed, with a minimal editing style that emphasizes its visual clarity. The one-shot scene between the two male characters, father and daughter scene is witty and thought-provoking, showcasing the expressiveness of the actors and sharp, suspenseful dialogue.

The writing is a highlight, packed with clever jokes and punchlines that feel refreshingly honest. The characters speak their minds in a way that's both funny and relatable. However, the film's pacing feels uneven. While the minimal cuts enhance immersion in some scenes, the lack of variety in perspectives made it feel a bit static.

The film's brevity also works against it, leaving some parts underdeveloped. Worst of all is the ending, which felt pointless and left me wondering why. In short, The Second Act is a "hahaha, meh, bored" type of film. Not bad overall, but a stronger, more meaningful ending would have changed it.