Small Cuts

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<B>Similar Genres</B></div> <div> <B>Drama</B></div> <div> <B>France</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> Small Cuts</div> <bR> <div> For collectible movie items, enter the movie, actor, director, etc. in the box below</div> <div>  <HTML> <BODY> <script language="JavaScript1.1"> var eBayMP_partner = "711-1751-4022-33"; // Don't change any javascript below this line. var eBayRedirectURL = "http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/" + eBayMP_partner + "?loc="; function redirectEnter(form,url){ var eBayURL = url; for (var i=0;i<form.elements.length;i++){ var e = form.elements[i]; if ((e.type != "image") && (e.type != "button") && (e.type != "submit")){ if(i==0){ eBayURL += "?" + e.name + "=" + e.value; } else{ eBayURL += "&" + e.name + "=" + e.value; } } } var temp = eBayRedirectURL + escape(eBayURL); document.location = temp; } </script> <table width="468" border="2" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" bordercolor="#3A3AF3" 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HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="589"><div> <B>Small Cuts (Petites Coupures)</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="589"><div> Review by Lee Shoquist</div> <div> for Reel Movie Critic </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="589"><div> HH</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="589"><div> Cast</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="293"><div>           Daniel Auteuil</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="293"><div>            Bruno</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="293"><div>           Kristen Scott-Thomas</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="293"><div>                        Beatrice</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="293"><div>           Ludivine Sagnier</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="293"><div>          Nathalie</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="293"><div>           Emmanuelle Devos</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="293"><div>             Gaelle</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="589"><div> Directed by Pascal Bonitzer. A comedy-drama. Not Rated (adult language and situations).  Running time:  minutes. In French with English sub-titles.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> A low-key and sometimes perceptive little film,<B> Small Cuts</B> is an observant comedy of manners with an appealingly exasperated leading man that presents its story with a detachment that ultimately fails to engage us on an emotional level. </div> <bR> <div> As the film opens, Bruno's (Daniel Auteuil) romantic life is in collapse. His wife (Emmanuelle Devos) and mistress (Ludivine Sagnier) engage in a chance encounter on a crowded city street, which leads his wife to leave him and his young, airhead mistress to cling.  With mistress reluctantly in tow, he heads to the country to visit his aging communist uncle. To complicate matters, his uncle unexpectedly sends him on an errand to a friend's home, where he meets the man's stepdaughter, Beatrice (Kristin Scott Thomas), and they strike up an uneasy flirtation that turns into an unconventional romance.  </div> <bR> <div> Nothing turns out quite like you'd expect, and one of the film's strengths is its ability to keep itself poker faced as put-upon Bruno ends up cut, bruised and scraped, yet still in pursuit of his mysterious dream woman. It's a comedy of sorts, but a dark one for sure.  It's dramatic, but a little bit shapeless and wandering at times.  And it's loaded with radiant cinematography that showcases the French countryside better than any travel brochure I've seen.  </div> <bR> <div> Unfortunately, the film feels, at times, tepid and uninvolving. When the proceedings become a little bit dull and the pace feels languorous, the professionalism and wit shared by the trio of actresses is delightful, and it's actually not easy to feel sympathy for Bruno with ladies like these around.  </div> <bR> <div> <B>Small Cuts</B> is a minor film at best and though it's intermittently enjoyable and offers a droll, straight-faced performance from Auteuil that's not show-offy or spectacular in any way, but memorably low-key, cynical and harried, it doesn't quite work.  Kristen Scott Thomas, underused in American films these days, shines and almost walks away with the film, reminding us of her nuanced work in many films like <B>Angels and Insects</B>, <B>A Handful of</B> <B>Dust</B> and <B>An Unforgettable Summer</B>.  </div> <bR> <div> It's difficult to recommend <B>Small Cuts</B>, but easy to commend Scott Thomas for her usual grace.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> Lee Shoquist © 2003</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:lee@reelmoviecritic.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:lee@reelmoviecritic.com"><U><U>lee@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>