Review of Special Treatment (2010) by Tit M — 04 Sep 2011

In "Special Treatment," Xavier(Bouli Lanners), a psychoanalyst, and Alice(Isabelle Huppert), a prostitute, walk into a medical supplies store. Xavier is enjoying the material rewards from his practice. Maybe a little too much for his wife Helene(Valerie Dreville) as she kicks him out of their apartment, not liking his attitude one bit. Alice has her eye on an antique chandelier while her friend and colleague, Juliette(Sabila Moussadek), is troubled by the kind of clients her friend brings in. Alice thinks she might be right as she is considering professional treatment, not just retail therapy.

"Special Treatment" wastes a potentially provocative set up and only succeeds as well it does mostly by the talent and fearlessness of Isabelle Huppert. A lot of that comes down to less a failure of nerve than sheer indecision by the filmmakers. At first, it seems the movie might be a veiled critique of psychoanalysis by comparing it to prostitution by saying that all everybody needs is a good lay.(Or one could argue if one does something solely for money, then that makes you a prostitute.) But the movie sadly never follows through on that or a fascinating structure that eventually asserts itself before abandoning that to chase down another subplot to explore. In the end, it is about nothing more interesting than a pair of mid-life crises. I guess what comes around goes around.