SWIMMING POOL

Director: Francois Ozon (8 Women, notable French film career since 1990)
Starring: Charlotte Rampling, Ludivine Sagnier

I have a theory. The theory is that every few years, movie makers feel they can once again pull out over-used tricks for a film and audiences, having had a chance to reset from the last time, will eat it up. It makes sense. The reason I note this theory of mine is that SWIMMING POOL, a fine little film, makes use of one of the most over-used tricks in writing. One so over-used, in fact, that I'm surprised that the pages didn't spontaneously combust during its composition. Most teachers of first-year writing appreciate the chances of spontaneous story combustion and ask their young Shakespeares to avoid its use. As with all things, though, this movie shows it can still work if you use it correctly. It shows that the trick exists for a reason. The trick? Call it the "It was all a dream", or "It was all a drug-trip", or, in this case, "It was all a book" twist.

The trick worked in this case because there was much more worthwhile in the story. Here an aging British crime novelist takes a vacation at her publisher's summer house in the south of France. Unexpectedly, the publisher's very wild, very sexy and illigitimate daughter shows up to share the house with her. Ludivine Sagnier played the femme fatale wonderfully as the mysterious daughter. Her portrayal of a teen-aged sex-kitten was simply marvelous - and very, very sexy. Beyond this, the story was quite nice (until the last act which I found a tad obvious) showing the tensions between this teen-aged plaything and the older author. Very interesting.

Despite the audible sigh I let out when I figured out the twist (about two-thirds through the film), I still ery much enjoyed this movie.

Standouts: Ludivine Sagnier (she has a bright future I think), solid aspects across the board.
Blowouts: Perhaps the time honored twist script device, but as I said before, it still worked.

Grade: B