Review of Cannes Man

Although the film has a great premise and a good point to make as I was watching it I couldn't help but think how much better it would have been had it been made by Woody Allen. The execution would have been so much better. I can only think they relied too much on improvising and whoever they could presumably talk into participating while they were at Cannes, rather than scripting it all and making it from scratch as Allen would have. Much of the acting isn't quite of a high enough standard either, but none the less its still and enjoyable film to watch.

Trading Places is another film that comes to mind when watching this - along with The Player - and ensemble pieces like Best In Show and This Is Spinal Tap. All of them cover either similar themes, or were made in a similar way, but yielded a better result. Perhaps the difference with Best in Show and Spinal Tap is that their makers had a firmer idea of what each scene was meant to cover before it was improvised, and from the outset they had a stronger script/structure - this film seemed to lack a little in that regard, as well as having some average acting. I thought Sy Lerner's character was a bit confusing too - at the start he seems to be a bit of a schmuck past his best days, yet he still seems to carry a lot of clout and when he starts wheeling and dealing.