movies: a little chaos

a little chaos
It doesn't happen often, but on occasion a movie just appears, seemingly out of nowhere... and in this case appears to be right up Ma and my collective alleys.

A Little Chaos, Alan Rickman's second turn in the directorial chair (although his first attempt was 17 years ago) stars Rickman, Kate Winslet and Belgium actor Matthias Schoenaerts and is the story of a female landscape-gardener who is chosen to to build a garden at Versailles, for the court of King Louis XIV.

So Rickman, Winslet, period drama, France... all the boxes checked.

And both Rickman and Winslet are wonderful, particularly in their few scenes together.

Also good are supporting cast Helen McCrory, Stanley Tucci and Steven Waddington.

Rickman's directing seems solid, and the costumes and sets, while not hugely lavish and grand for the most part, are beautifully detailed.

If the movie has a flaw, it's very definitely the script. While a lot of it is good, if somewhat predictable, there are certain things that just never get explained, which is a little irritating. And there are things that seem like they're possibly going to be important subplots that just fizzle out and never go anywhere. And even though the run time is 116 minutes, it does feel a little as though parts of the movie are rushed, particularly towards the end.

But having said all of that, it's still a sweet movie, and the performances are good.

yani's rating: 3 perennials out of 5

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