'HOUSEKEEPER': ALL MIDLIFE CRISES SHOULD BE SO ROUGH.Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic ALTHOUGH it's done with a certain degree of sensitivity and honest observation, the French romantic drama ``The Housekeeper'' is basically just a typical, middle-age guy's fantasy. She's his young and adoring a·dore v. a·dored, a·dor·ing, a·dores v.tr. 1. To worship as God or a god. 2. To regard with deep, often rapturous love. See Synonyms at revere1. 3. maid, he learns a lesson or two by film's end, and no strings except very thin ones to the heart are attached. Depressed when his wife of many years runs off with another man, recording engineer Jacques (Jean-Pierre Bacri, recently seen to fine effect in ``The Taste of Others'' and Alain Resnais' ``Same Old Song'') doesn't clean his Paris apartment for half a year. He finally hires a housekeeper, Laura (Emilie Duquenne, who won the Cannes Film Festival's best actress prize for ``Rosetta''). She's a pleasant, unsophisticated and enthusiastic girl who does a good job. Jacques comes to depend on her as much as a self-contained man can on anyone. Then one day, she tells him that the guy she's been living with is kicking her out. Could she stay at Jacques' until she gets enough other work to afford her own apartment? It's instantly obvious that they have nothing in common. He listens to jazz and classical, she sweeps to French rap and techno. He reads great literature, she watches dumb television. She cooks with butter, he prefers olive oil olive oil, pale yellow to greenish oil obtained from the pulp of olives by separating the liquids from solids. Olive oil was used in the ancient world for lighting, in the preparation of food, and as an anointing oil for both ritual and cosmetic purposes. (virgin, no doubt). One night, she comes to him; he is receptive. Director Claude Berri, who of late has worked on a larger scale (``Jean de Florette,'' ``Lucie Aubrac''), tries to make something revealing about the dangers a non-commital male faces when he opens his heart. But y'know, whatever Jacques may end up suffering, it's hard to feel sorry for the lucky old dog. Both lead actors are fine, as are the people who play Jacques' equally self-isolated circle of acquaintances. But Bacri and Dequenne have played much knottier and imaginatively searing sear 1 v. seared, sear·ing, sears v.tr. 1. To char, scorch, or burn the surface of with or as if with a hot instrument. See Synonyms at burn1. 2. variations on these characters in the past. Bob Strauss, (818) 713-3670 bob.strauss(at)dailynews.com THE HOUSEKEEPER - Two and one half stars (Not Rated: nudity, sex, language) Starring: Jean-Pierre Bacri, Emilie Dequenne. Director: Claude Berri. Running time: 1 hr. 30 min. Playing: Town Center 5, Encino; Playhouse 7, Pasadena; Music Hall, Beverly Hills Beverly Hills, city (1990 pop. 31,971), Los Angeles co., S Calif., completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles; inc. 1914. The largely residential city is home to many motion-picture and television personalities. ; Monica, Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. ; University, Irvine. In a nutshell nut·shell n. The shell enclosing the meat of a nut. Idiom: in a nutshell In a few words; concisely: Just give me the facts in a nutshell. Adv. 1. : So-so French midlife crisis midlife crisis n. A period of psychological doubt and anxiety that some people experience in middle age. midlife crisis romance. |
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