Reviews

A Christmas Tale

A twisted Christmas stocking

By PETER KEOUGH | December 9, 2008

2.5 Stars

Maybe Charles, who died of leukemia three decades ago, at the age of six, knew what he was doing; he's the only member of the Vuillard family not suffering from an existential or physical malignancy. His death, at any rate, has given the rest of the family an excuse to be unhappy and hateful.

Anarchic Henri (Mathieu Amalric) bears the heaviest burden; born after Charles, he's been rejected by his mother, Junon (Catherine Deneuve), and his older sister, Elizabeth (Anne Consigny), whose teenage son Paul (Émile Berling) keeps up the family tradition by going crazy. Youngest son Ivan (Melvil Poupaud) and dad Abel (Jean-Paul Roussillon) struggle to make peace, especially when a holiday reunion turns into a search for a marrow donor because Junon has also developed leukemia.

A twisted Christmas stocking overstuffed with whimsical misery and technical bravura, Arnaud Desplechin's Un conte de Noël could use more of the surreal hilarity of Wes Anderson'sThe Royal Tenenbaums.

French | 152 minutes | Kendall Square

Related: Help wanted, Practice makes precious, Review: Shrink, More

Help wanted
I can’t speak for everyone, but I’d take a painting over a snowflake sweater any day of the week.
Practice makes precious
After seeing her do her thing at the House of Blues on Wednesday, I think I can safely conclude that something about Jenny Lewis just doesn’t do it for me.
Review: Shrink
Dr. Henry Carter (Kevin Spacey), the psychiatrist-to-the-stars of the title, has written a bestselling book on how to be happy. But — go figure — he isn't happy himself.
Review: Orphan
John (Peter Sarsgaard) and Kate (Vera Farmiga) don't have eight children to contend with, but after the miscarriage of their daughter, they adopt, bringing their brood to three. Perhaps they should have cut their losses.
Review: The Black Balloon
Toni Collette as another unflappable mother? This time to a spoon-banging, shit-smearing autistic teen?
Review: Adam
As opposed to what happens in most films about mentally challenged characters, the protagonist of Max Mayer's debut feature does not regress into a stereotype. Instead, he shows by contrast how stereotyped all the other characters are.
Review: The Horse Boy
Rupert Isaacson and Kristin Neff seem the best of parents and yet they’re worn down by their four-year-old autistic son, Rowan, with his four-hour tantrums, his rejection of toilet training, his inability to answer to his name.
North 26
I never call chefs before writing a review, but if I did speak with Brian Flagg of North 26, I'd ask him if Jasper White has ever paid a visit.
Pottery, Potter, mummies, and a 'Rare Bird'
The art of 2000 BC Egypt, visions from the Iraq War and AIDS activism, and the magic of a digital technology and Harry Potter make up the highlights of Boston's autumn art calendar.
Ring master
At its best, Tyson becomes its subject's psychotherapist, allowing him to disgorge with no judgment and little restraint his memories, fantasies, impulses, and fears.
Aurora Borealis
Want to make an independent movie? Watch the trailer for Aurora Borealis (QuickTime)
Less

Topics: Reviews , Health and Fitness, Medicine, Catherine Deneuve, More

Comments

Add a Comment

Today's Event Picks

[ART] "Veterans Gather" Exhibit at University of Rhode Island

ARTICLES BY PETER KEOUGH

REVIEW: THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS | November 06, 2009
Here’s a subject that really could have used a Stanley Kubrick or a John Frankenheimer or a Robert Altman. But are there any great cinematic satirists left, auteurs with the knack for black comedy and cold-blooded irony?

REVIEW: DISNEY'S A CHRISTMAS CAROL | November 03, 2009
Charles Dickens made a mint with readings of A Christmas Carol , but a century and a half of technological progress has not been kind to the property.

REVIEW: GENTLEMEN BRONCOS | November 04, 2009
Having peaked with his debut, Napoleon Dynamite , Jared Hess has settled into being a family-friendly John Waters — which is redundant, since Waters is already rated PG-13.

REVIEW: 35 SHOTS OF RUM | October 28, 2009
Most American filmmakers would focus on the multicultural aspect of 35 Shots of Rum — Claire Denis takes it for granted that her characters are immigrants and doesn’t turn her film into a political discussion.

REVIEW: AMERICAN CASINO | October 30, 2009
If you’re still curious about what derivatives are after seeing Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story , Andrew and Leslie Cockburn’s drier, more in-depth examination of the meltdown and bailout might help.

See all articles by: PETER KEOUGH

Most Viewed

Most Emailed

INTERVIEW: RAY DAVIES
In 1964, the scorching five-chord chorus of “You Really Got Me” changed rock music forever.

BOSTON RAT RAMPAGE
Residents say that if you jam a leaf blower in the earth virtually anywhere in Allston, furry bottom feeders will be blown out of every crack and hole in sight and rain down like unsavory screeching meatballs. North Enders joke that something similar would happen if you detonate a Parmesan wheel in an alleyway off Hanover Street.

THE BIG HURT: LIAM ALONE
Everyone figured that Noel Gallagher would go solo — it’s been hinted at for years — but the break-up of Oasis has made it a grim inevitability.

JULIAN CASABLANCAS | PHRAZES FOR THE YOUNG
Someday, a great rock film will be made. The opening shot is of a wasted rock star, bejeweled and clad in the finest leather, with white panthers circling the living room of his Parthenon-esque manse as he hits PLAY on a comically large reel-to-reel.

MORRISSEY | SWORDS
Morrissey — begrudging patron saint of all that is emotionally desolate and otherwise comfortably bummed — is but a mere mortal, as his recent collapse on stage proves.

BOSTON RAT RAMPAGE
Residents say that if you jam a leaf blower in the earth virtually anywhere in Allston, furry bottom feeders will be blown out of every crack and hole in sight and rain down like unsavory screeching meatballs. North Enders joke that something similar would happen if you detonate a Parmesan wheel in an alleyway off Hanover Street.

INTERVIEW: RAY DAVIES
In 1964, the scorching five-chord chorus of “You Really Got Me” changed rock music forever.

DIFFERENCE OF OPINION
It’s been three months since Peter Canellos replaced Renée Loth as editor of the Boston Globe ’s editorial page.

HARDBOILED HUB
When I was growing up in Roslindale a few decades back — among tribes of ignorant, second-generation immigrant kids whose favorite words began with “f” and “n” and who liked to torture small animals and beat up small children before they moved on to their future vocations as petty criminals, dead dope users, or real-estate agents.