THE DREAMLIFE OF ANGELS (Sony Pictures Classics) Directed by Erick Zonca.
The mark of a truly good movie isn't necessarily how much you enjoy it while you're sitting in the theater (or on the couch, as the case may be) but how you feel about it days or weeks later. A popcorn extravaganza like "Wild Wild West" may help to kill a couple of hours on a hot day, but it doesn't exactly sweeten in the memory, and if you suffer through a truly bad film you want to start forgetting the experience as quickly as possible.
"The Dreamlife of Angels" is a truly fine piece of work that's certain to linger in your mind for quite awhile. You may find the central characters a little hard to warm up to -- neither of them is likely to be mistaken for Julia Roberts -- but their experiences, their friendship and the difficult lessons they learn are genuinely haunting.
"Angels" is the story of Isa (Elodie Bouchez) and Marie (Natacha Regnier), a pair of young women fending for themselves in a dreary corner of France. Isa sells handmade postcards when she's in between menial temporary jobs; Marie toils in a sweatshop and lives in an apartment that belongs to a hospitalized mother and daughter. Eventually Isa moves in with her and the two begin to find the fun-loving, girlish parts of their personalities they've been forced to suppress, probably for years. They begin hanging out at the mall, trying to crash concerts and flirting playfully with anonymous guys. It's a fulfilling friendship and, since this is a French film, you can rest assured it won't last.
Before long, Marie, who initially seemed like the brighter of the two, has fallen hopelessly for Chris (Gregoire Colin), a slick womanizer who owns some clubs and dazzles her with his seemingly limitless supply of cash. Isa sees through Chris and tries to steer her friend toward a less well-heeled guy who truly adores Marie. Sadly, Marie's self-esteem is so low she'd rather sneak away for a few afternoon trysts in a motel room with Chris than consider spending time with someone who might actually treat her with respect.
Using decidedly unglamorous locales and stars, director Erick Zonca has given the story what amounts to an almost documentary feel; Isa and Marie seem so true-to-life at times you might feel a bit voyeuristic. "Dreamlife" is also a movie less concerned with plot than it is with details and character development. The waifish Isa ultimately becomes wise and self-sufficient while the more domineering Marie gradually collapses from the inside out. Bouchez and Regnier so brilliantly get under the skin of these women and provide them with such vivid personalities that by the end you feel you've known them for years.
Every so often Hollywood tries to Americanize French movies, generally unsuccessfully. Let us pray no one hires Liv Tyler and Alicia Silverstone to re-do "Dreamlife": That would truly be a nightmare. James Sanford
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