Review of Lemming (2005) by Drew S — 31 Aug 2009

Lemming is handsomely acted by 3/4ths of its principal cast and never dull by any means, but the sum of these parts sort of falls short. The movie could have ended at the 45-minute mark and I wouldn't have missed anything, save a hokey dash of the supernatural and an excruciating protraction of an already hamfisted metaphor. I turned the movie off not feeling too satisfied.

Lemming is pervaded with characters making illogical choices in interaction. When someone in a film acts strangely, I enjoy trying to figure out why with the information a viewer has that the other person in the dialogue may not; it's an interesting dramatic technique that helps you get behind both the characters and their actions. Unfortunately, this happens all the time in Lemming but the motives are never really clear. It felt like the characters were being obtuse for the sake of keeping each other in the dark and manufacturing misunderstandings, which is a huge pet peeve of mine. Learn how to communicate like the normal people you supposedly are and maybe this shit won't happen to you! I really had a lot of trouble sympathizing with the characters because of this, but the strong portrayals sort of recoup lost ground here. Charlotte Gainsbourg is a great fit in her part - I always enjoy seeing her in movies because she's clement and effortless, much like her even-tempered Benedicte here. Laurent Lucas, who I definitely don't remember from Who Killed Bambi (not that I remember much about that movie), is also surprisingly effective. He radiates a sort of loyal intensity, a quality that makes you believe in his devotion to his wife even when the script isn't really. Charlotte Rampling's screen time is brief but she is an imposing specter, lingering through the movie. Seeing the effects that radiate from her presence is the most interesting part of a movie that usually just dead-ends itself. The only weak link here is Andre Dussollier, whose IMDB page suggests that he's one of those prolific character actors that just don't really give a shit. His one mode of expression here would corroborate this, but as he's the least important character in the movie, I guess things could be worse.

I wasn't particularly expecting much from the movie, and that's just about what I got. I put it on my Netflix queue because I am quite fond of both of the Charlottes and wanted to see how they would fare in a thriller. The answer: they are disserviced by their material. Entertaining but sort of watery, Lemming's content probably doesn't justify its run time, unless you are really looking to kill two hours.