And Now Ladies And Gentlemen êê

Rating

PG-13

for mild sexuality and adult elements

Director

Claude Lelouch

Same old Lelouch

Starring

Setting himself apart from his French filmmaking contemporaries like Godard and Truffaut with their tradition bending, eclectic approach to filmmaking, Claude Lelouch is, to his credit, still stubbornly old-fashioned. Though he first started out with films similar in style to his peers, after his first major international hit in 1966, "A Man and A Woman," Lelouch's films were known for their stylishly romantic look, with a melancholy tone. Using music almost as a third character in his films, Lelouch's pictures at their worst resembled slick fashion ads from the French version of Vogue, overwrought and almost veering over the edge of silliness.

His latest film, "And Now Ladies and Gentlemen" (an awkward title if ever there was one) proves that Lelouch, for both good and bad, hasn't lost his touch over the years and countless films. Set in Paris and Morocco, the film deals with an elegant and not-quite-the-master-of-disguise jewel thief (Irons) and a depressed lounge singer (famed European singer Patricia Kaas in an impressive screen debut), both of whom are suffering from some mysterious brain aliment that causes them to black out and forget things. While awaiting their respective operations, they meet, timidly fall in love and face obstacles, such as Irons accused and tortured by the police for a major jewel theft, before love triumphs and they are reunited at last.

Though the film is breathtakingly lush and gorgeous to look at with alluring scenes of Moroccan color and atmosphere, unfortunately, the whole enterprise is slack and tedious. Thinly plotted and dense with countless meandering subplots and unnecessary incidental details, "And Now Ladies and Gentlemen" is more effective as a travelogue (the Moroccan Tourism Board owes a huge debt of gratitude to Lelouch) than a compelling film.