Writer-director Henry Jaglom took his cameras to the Cannes Film Festival in 1999 to shoot this sardonic, sweet-and-sour industry farce that pits hearts against pocketbooks in the increasingly commercial atmosphere surrounding the world's most prominent cinematic supermarket/circus. Taking cues from Robert Altman's The Player, Jaglom fuses together several astute and entertaining showbiz stories about aging actresses and young ingenues, all engaged in the customary wheeling and dealing, deviousness, and, of course, schmoozing, on the red carpets, at the parties, in the street cafes, and in the bungalows of five-star hotels. While taking wry delight in smirking at the industry, Festival in Cannes also finds the humanity and complexity in even the most counterfeit of characters, lending the film an affectionate authenticity that makes up for its few shortcomings. Recommended. (R. Blackwelder)
Festival in Cannes
Paramount, 99 min., PG-13, VHS: $95.99, DVD: $29.99, Sept. 24 Volume 17, Issue 5
Festival in Cannes
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