LE LIVRE DES SOLUTIONS

The only problem the unwieldy new Michel Gondry film Le Livre des Solutions is likely to solve is chronic insomnia as its disjointed, incomprehensible plot is navelgazingly trite and dull.

Even in the most misguided of Michel Gondry films there usually is at least one scene that is so imaginatively concocted and executed you can't help but smile. Intriguingly, though the protagonist is a filmmaker who wants to wrestle back creative control from his producers, Le Livre des Solutions does not contain any such scene and thus falls flat on its face.

Whether it is the annoying lead character, the scattershot approach to storytelling or the overal visual drabness - not to mention a grating, pointless Sting cameo - the picture manages to squeeze every inch of life out of a half-decent premise and well before the halfway mark already becomes a bit of a chore to watch.

It would appear that writer-director Gondry went so full-in on the homemade, amateurish approach the film's protagonist is inspired by that he fashioned the whole of Le Livre des Solutions in this vein, but instead of pushing the envelope he merely tests the audience's patience.

It would have helped had the film at least built up to a fascinating, thought-provoking climax, but even this Le Livre des Solutions botches badly with a visual pun that lands with a thud.

release: 2023

director: Michel Gondry

starring: Pierre Niney, Frankie Wallach, Camille Rutherford, Françoise Lebrun