Review of Certified Copy (2010) by Brandon M — 13 Jul 2012

"Copie Conforme" is one of those art films where you're impressed by literally everything, from the editing to the acting, but the film itself is so technical that it's almost hard to enjoy.

The film centers on two people-- an unnamed woman played by Binoche, and an author in town, played by Shimell, for a book signing. Juliette's character attends the meeting, but leaves early, and then later on bumps into the author again.

The two sight-see and converse, but have many arguments about his book. They later stop at a cafe, and the barista asks her about her and her husband, and it seems that this whole time they've been married.

This leads us to two different possibilities-- are these two separate stories? And the other possibility is, were they married this whole time? Because Kiarostami never answers, it leads us into quite a mystery.

The problem is, the film is un-involving and often boring. With all of the talent involved, shouldn't it have been better? This is such a frustrating film, because everything else is so good. Because the film revolves around two peoples' day together, it luckily has a realistic screenplay that has sparkling dialogue, and the film's edited together in a way that feels intimate and very interesting.

The performances are both very good as well-- Shimell, who is actually an opera singer in real life, nabbed this as his first role, and his presence is so icy that he resembles an aging Alain Delon, and has good chemistry with his co-star.

But Binoche, who is always good, is hands down, the only reason to see this film. She's masterful. Her character is irritating, seductive, and absorbing all at the same time, and with such a confusing character most actresses would most likely fail.

But no. Instead, Binoche grabs the role and wears it like the clothes on her back. "Copie Conforme" isn't incompetent, but Kiarostami's direction is so uninteresting that it remains to be the biggest problem of a film that could've been great.