Review: Cote D'Azur (C+)

Cote D'Azur (2005)
Directed by Olivier Ducastel & Jacques Martineau
Starring Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Gilbert Melki, Jean-Marc Barr and Romain Torres
MPAA: UR
Grade: C+

Review by Sebastian Francis Kennedy

Cote D'Azur is a strange film as it is one part comedy, one part drama, and one part musical. Melding the three is a hard thing to do, and I am not so sure that it works completely. However, Cote D'Azur is entertaining and it does have it's moments.

Marc and Béatrix bring their family to a vaction home for the summer. Beatrix is cheating on Marc, and Marc is not what he seems either. Their son and daughter (Charly and Laura) are both exploring their own sexuality and everyone seems pre-occupied with sex, taking long showers and talking about seafood. The parents think that their son is gay, because his best friend is a homosexual. The film's stars break into song several times in the film.

Cote D'Azur is bawdy, raucous and a little bit silly. The acting is solid. The storyline is a little flat, and it takes a while for it to get rolling. However Cote D'Azur is an entertaining French film with a lot of nudity, song and comedy. Strange, yes. But never boring.