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I was looking forward to a new film titled <I><B>Seaside</B></I><B>,</B> arriving in the U.S. with a Best First Feature prize taken at Cannes no less.  </div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Seaside</B></I><B> </B>aims to fit comfortably into the above-described genre.  It's low-key, droll and "offbeat" in its seriocomic chronicling of the lives of several people living near the French seaside, over the course of one calendar year. A lifeguard and his barmaid sister watch over their gambling-prone mother.  A young woman in a stone-polishing factory falls quickly into a relationship then realizes she harbors feelings for her boss.  The boss is complacently married and about to lose his job.  </div> <bR> <div> And that about sums up everything that happens in the film.  </div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Seaside</B></I><B>,</B> with its would-be quiet rhythms and overly leisurely pace, is a film where something interesting almost happens to each of the characters.  But it ends up being so low-key and quiet that it doesn't even hit the radar screen.  It's just plain dull.  As a huge fan of French cinema, and understated, independent character-driven dramas, <I><B>Seaside</B></I><B> </B>had me anticipating a sweet and charming little film about some regular people going through some minor but life-changing events.  </div> <bR> <div> But this<I> </I>is a film without much character development.   For example, the only defining characteristic about the mother is that she had a gambling problem.  That's it.  There's no further shading to her character, no revelations or growth.  She's a one-line character description.  And this holds true with about  90 % of the characters in the film.  Everyone behaves so anemically that when a character's face is slapped near the end of the film, it registers as the first emotionally vital moment of the film.  Indeed, this is a film where "nothing much happens," which is often trumpeted as a merit of "rich" independent character studies.  But let's just call it what it really is - lazy screenwriting.  </div> <bR> <div> Where <I><B>Seaside</B></I><B> </B>misfires is in its attempt to show "real life."  This is an often-tricky thing for a director to accomplish, and <I><B>Seaside</B></I><B> </B>director Julie Lopes-Curval isn't up to the task.  <I><B>Seaside</B></I> is so dry and devoid of human feeling and interest that it comes off like a film where all of the character development and turning points have been edited from the final print.  The lesson here is that, as we all know, real life can sometimes be boring.  Doesn't mean that movies about the subject have to follow suit. </div> <bR> <div> 88 Minutes</div> <div> Not Rated</div> <div> Adult Themes, Profanity</div> <div> French with English Subtitles</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="621" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="617"><div> Lee Shoquist © 2002</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="617"><div> <A HREF="mailto:leeshoquist@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:leeshoquist@aol.com"><U><U>Leeshoquist.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>