Review of Coco Before Chanel (2009) by Jiana W — 01 May 2012

I rented this because of Audrey Tautou and its her performance and the humor within the film that makes me rate it at 3 stars. As a biopic, I honestly didn't think that much of it. I expected it to be like "La Vie En Rose" in some ways but it was nothing like it. It seems like it actually skips some things in the timeline to conserve time. One minute she's dancing cabaret, making smart-a$$ remarks to everybody, the next she's living with a super-rich dude and is on her way to being great. By the time Coco steps out on her own to make her mark, the movie is over and I was sitting there like, "That's it?! Where's the rest of the movie?" Little did I know that nearly 2 hours had passed. Two hours of virtually nothing of real interest to me. So I guess the movie lived up to its name "Coco BEFORE Chanel".

The main character is charming, feisty and funny and the costumes are pretty. It's somewhat interesting and inspiring to see the very humble beginnings of one of the greatest fashion pioneers in the world. It reminds me of that saying in the movie Ratatouille: "Not everyone can be a great artist. But a great artist can come from anywhere." Believe in your gifts, and have at least one other person in your life who does the same, and then go for it.