The first five minutes of Russian Dolls (Les Poupees Russes) are nothing short of frenetic. I have watched films with flashbacks before. I have watched films with flashbacks within flashbacks. But the helter skelter bouncing between five years ago, a year before that, a year ago and the present will initially leave your head spinning.
From that point, Russian Dolls settles in to the story of Xavier (Romain Duris) who is a struggling writer. Although he would like to write something with substance, he seems saddled with "jobs" meant to subsist and pay the bills. Among the jobs are ghost writing memoirs and a screen play that is a sequel about lovers. Xavier's own love life fails to provide the inspiration he is looking for to use as inspiration. His creative process actually gets acted out a few times, with some comedic results.
It isn't like Xavier hasn't experienced the carnal side of "love." But he understands that the clock is ticking (he is almost thirty) and a sense that he will never find true love seems to create some anxiety. He has an ex-girlfriend Martine (Audrey Tautou) whom he maintains a strange relationship with. His good friend William (Kevin Bishop) seems to inspire Xavier with his own love story about how he met and fell in love with a ballerina named Natacha (Evguenya Obraztsova) even though they don't speak the same language.
William's sister Wendy (Kelly Reilly) teams up with Xavier on his writing project, but has her own love related issues. It seems that neither one of them is fit to write a love story. Xavier's one memorable love was a girl named Neus (Irene Montala) whom he chased down the street naked. It is the closest experience to love that he has to draw from. As Xavier recounts his girl troubles, he flashes back to his current journey on a train, seemingly headed towards that true love. The question becomes, where is our Xavier headed and who will be there to meet him?
Russian Dolls is a quirky romantic comedy that has a few twists and turns but is fairly easy to figure out (after the bouncing around stops). The comedic aspect of this film has a flavor that not all viewers will enjoy. It is not quite slapstick...I guess the only thing I can call it is French. Because the film is a product of Xavier's mind (we are witnessing events as Xavier is recounting them into his laptop as he travels)...the comedy has a surreal element to it. Quirky products of Xavier's imagination make it onto the screen creating a bizarre humor that I enjoyed. It was weird and different, but good.
One of the aspects of Russian Dolls that first attracted me to the film was the cast. I was first introduced to the magnificent Cecile De France in the film Un Secret. She provides some interesting diversion as Xavier's lesbian friend in Russian Dolls. I was once again impressed by her performance. Audrey Tautou was another name I recognized from the film Amelie which was another exceptional film. Tautou has an interesting but limited role in this film but is still amazing. Duris has an almost casual air about him, making his performance seem effortless. His comic moments are often dry in a good sort of way. I guess I would describe him as understated. The cast did a good job of bringing this film together.
Russian Dolls feels schizophrenic at times and the plot becomes fairly predictable once the film settles in for the story. The excellent dialogue, rich scenery (France, England and Russia), enjoyable cast and quirky comic elements added up to two hours of entertainment. I was entertained when I wasn't confused, which was only for a short period of time. This film is well worth renting. 7.5/10.
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