Venus Beauty Institute

Celebrated French actress Nathalie Baye (Day For Night) has the same down-to-earth beauty and appeal as Kathy Baker. Here, she gives a daring, vanity-free performance as Angèle, a 40+ beautician who, when not administering massages and facials at the Venus Beauty Institute, indulges in "flings." After one spectacular breakup at a train station, a bystander is moved enough to profess his love and declare his willingness to leave his adoring fiancée for her (this is a French film, remember). Meanwhile, we observe the comings and goings at the institute, from the lonely, middle-aged widower who shyly courts a young, doe-eyed employee to the imperious client who waltzes in to use the tanning booth without an appointment or anything on under her trenchcoat. The women customers, obsessed with wrinkles and aging, are not objects of ridicule like the socialites in Robert Altman's Dr. T and the Women, and while Angele is not the most sympathetic of characters, the fact that we too are "moved" by her is a testament to Baye's charm. A multiple Cesar award-winner (the French equivalent of the Academy Award) for best picture, director and screenplay, this is recommended. (K. Lee Benson)