Finding good new movies to watch is always a challenge. I found this French-Italian film by digging through the "fresh" lists at Rotten Tomatoes which is a compendium of film reviews from North America. I do not remember how well "Certified Copy" did on the tomato-meter but it was pretty fresh, something in the neighborhood of 90% which is the website's way of saying the 90 percent of the reviewers that reviewed "Certified Copy" gave it a positive review. It's an imperfect system but it's the best one I've come across so far. The ratings at IMDB are all over the map.
"Certified Copy" stars Juliette Binoche with whom I've harbored a flickering crush since I saw her in "Trois Couleur: Bleu" (1993) which is a beautiful film I wish I could see again for the first time. Anyway the film is about a British writer who wrote a book about art and gives a small lecture about art and originality at a local bookstore. A middle-aged woman with a teen-aged son in tow comes in to the lecture late and leaves early, but she's obviously fascinated by the writer. Later, we discover she had bought several of the books, had them signed by the writer and, at the same time, had asked him to meet her. They meet and spend the day together driving through the Tuscan countryside, talking about art and life. The conversation turns into kind of role playing game where they pretend to be a couple, but they do such a good impression of a couple that one wonders if they are or were a couple and they have known each other the whole time.
It was a very interesting film. I love these conversation-filled films. The writing is subtle and intelligent with just the right touch for each character to allow the actor to express the essence of the persona. The direction is simple, invisible, complementing the script and acting. And the acting was superb.
Similar films:
The American (George Clooney, 2010)
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Scarlett Johanson, 2008)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Juliette Binoche, 1988)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Elizabeth Taylor, 1966)
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