Review of Small Change (1976) by James H — 11 Jul 2009

(DVD) (First Viewing, 7th Truffaut film).

With [b]Small Change[/b], Truffaut returns to the realm of children and the adventures of childhood (which is where he started in 1959 with [b]Les Quatres cent coups (The 400 Blows)[/b], only this time to much less spectacular results. [b]Small Change[/b] is pleasant enough I suppose, but it just lacks any real bite that make it anything else than faintly amusing entertainment.

Some of the characters are mildy interesting, every once in a while the situation elicits a genuine laugh. I did find it interesting that Truffaut sets up the local cinema as almost a church- we see everybody there and they greet and wave each other just like Sunday morning church. But the ending is dull and preachy, and you get the feeling you've already forgotten most of what you've just seen for the last hour and a half before it ends.

Truffaut-lite. Certainly no where near his best. In fact, you can hardly tell it's the same man behind those early masterpieces (it's really interesting to note that Truffaut got more simplistic and feel-good as he aged, Godard got more complex and political as time went on).

Ovearll, not bad, just not memorable.