Review of Coco Before Chanel (2009) by Dean B — 23 Nov 2009

Oh, you tantalizing tease, "Coco Before Chanel." You open with a scene beautifully and swiftly sketched in of young Gabrielle (eventually known as Coco, after a song) and her sister being deposited in an orphanage, and Gabrille's critical viewing of the nun's habits is almost like an inside joke.

The first half hour is filled with wit and music, as Gabrielle and her sister work as showgirls for tips and try to eke out a living; eventually, Gabrielle winds up at the home of a man who fancies her, and unsmilingly takes up residence as an indefinite houseguest, bewildering the Bell Epoque crowd drifting in and out before she reveals that she can design clothes.

Audrey Tautou never begs for the audience's sympathy, and is much brisker and tougher than the ingenue of the fairy-tale world of "Amelie." However, her obvious contempt for her (admittedly silly) patron comes across as mean and calculating, and for awhile the movie settles into a vaguely dissatisying groove of them quarrelling, her wanting to leave, her realizing she has nowhere to go, him demanding sex, her pouting, etc.

Things liven up considerably once Allesandro Nivola turns up as a British businessman and the sexiest pirate since Orlando Bloom. This man, ironically nicknamed "Boy," would become Chanel's great love (despite being married) and help her get started in business; from there, let's just say that Chanel's life resembles Piaf's in a startling way, and the last half hour becomes increasingly gripping.

The ending, a swirl of stunning colors and designs as models descend a staircase, the tiny, black-clad Chanel reclining on the stairs behind them, is a mini-masterpiece that wipes away the draggy first hour, and all is forgiven.

Clothes-horses and Francophiles, this is your movie; rush out immediately, and wallow.