The latest from Stephen Frears starts off well enough, having fun and well spirited but by the end is a bit of a sappy, overly dramatic, melodrama that almost negates the good start.
Lea is a courtesan, one of the best at that, in France. She is so successful at what she does that she is even able to lives a lavish and expensive lifestyle even when she isn’t courting and entertaining a man. She owns her own place, has beautiful clothing, and in home service help. The only problem is that she got this being a courtesan and that does not bode well for her social life as no decent woman of her social stature will socialize with a know courtesan. So Lea is left to socialize with her peers, both retired and working, and while she didn’t particularly enjoy there company she was left with no other options. Madame Peloux was one of these women, since retired, but wealthy and in good living conditions as Lea she spends her time entertaining guests having dinners, tea, and social functions seemingly all the time. Peloux and Lea spend most of the time going back and forth trying to out class or out wit one another with who is leading a better life in what is ultimately a dick measuring contest between two women. Peloux’s son Chéri, a nickname derived by Lea, is a bored and socially exhausted nineteen year old. [Read more...]