Coco Before Chanel (Coco avant Chanel) (2009)

The good news: it's French; the locations, especially the country estate, are lush; so is the music--composer Alexandre Desplat (nominated for Benjamin Button and The Queen (2006), also wrote for Chéri, Lust, Caution (2007), The Painted Veil (2006), Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003), among others) won a World Soundtrack award; the yummy Alessandro Nivola (Frances McDormand's "younger man" in Laurel Canyon (2002)) is in it; actress Emmanuelle Devos, as Coco's first society friend, has some funny lines; and the hats are pretty great. The bad news: it drags (even at 1 hour 45 minutes it seemed too long); the color palette of the wardrobe is drab until the very last sequence; we never get to really see the first dress that Coco designs (that really cussed me off) as it is only shown on her while she is dancing with Nivola who blocks most of her; the fashion show at the end is so arty, with mirrors, that we don't really get to see much of that fashion either; Audrey Tatou can be charming or annoying--guess how I reacted here. Tatou was adorable in Amélie (2001), L'auberge espagnole (2002), and Priceless (Hors de prix - 2006). In The Da Vinci Code (2006) and Dirty Pretty Things (2002) her roles could have been played by anyone, and she was downright irritating in He Loves Me...He Loves Me Not (À la folie...pas de tout - 2002), though, because she played a stalker, perhaps that was intentional. Much is made of Coco's refusal to wear corsets, like her friend. But her friend is voluptuous and Tatou is skinny (trivia--the even skinnier Keira Knightley was apparently considered for the role). Some people have liked it. I didn't hate it, but it could have been much better.