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God Is Great, and I'm Not

God Is Great, and I'm Not

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP
Review:
At the end of the movie it says "to be continued." I can only assume this was a sadistic joke played on the audience by the director. Maybe in the second part everyone will die slow and gruesome deaths in which case I'll go see it.



Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Spirit Light
Review: "God Is Great & I'm Not" appears flavored by French skepticism toward religion. Audrey Tautou who charmed us in the international hit "Amelie" again teams with director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, but the results are not quite as satisfying, although still worthy of one night's viewing.

Her character Michelle searches for spirituality the way one might try to find the right cut of meat in the supermarket. She flits from Catholicism to Buddhism to Judaism. All of this would be tremendously interesting if the religions seemed to saturate her with the best of their teachings. We could have seen a character similar to Amelie who went about trying to do good; now trying to do good as a Catholic, then as a Buddhist, then as a Jew. Instead, we are relegated to the details of Buddhist meditation and the Jewish Shabbat while missing any larger connection of spiritual thought. Meantime, Michelle is also a model. The film is punctuated by her shooting various styles of dress and posing seductively for the camera.

Edouard Baer as boyfriend Francois gives the film a reality in his performance, bothered by details of a series of romantic attachments and concerned with a young-30s male perspective of not wanting responsibilities of fatherhood. However, as wonderful as he is, he's not funny, which makes the lighthearted comedy sink a bit.

Jeunet's quick cuts give a cinema verite feel to the film and an episodic structure. However, "GISGBIN" seems to end abruptly rather than building to a climax. Equally puzzling is the "to be continued" moniker at the end. Continue what? Why? Did we care enough to want a second film? Despite all that the film is not, Tautou is captivating. Enjoy, if only for one night!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Spirit Light
Review: "God Is Great & I'm Not" appears flavored by French skepticism toward religion. Audrey Tautou who charmed us in the international hit "Amelie" again teams with director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, but the results are not quite as satisfying, although still worthy of one night's viewing.

Her character Michelle searches for spirituality the way one might try to find the right cut of meat in the supermarket. She flits from Catholicism to Buddhism to Judaism. All of this would be tremendously interesting if the religions seemed to saturate her with the best of their teachings. We could have seen a character similar to Amelie who went about trying to do good; now trying to do good as a Catholic, then as a Buddhist, then as a Jew. Instead, we are relegated to the details of Buddhist meditation and the Jewish Shabbat while missing any larger connection of spiritual thought. Meantime, Michelle is also a model. The film is punctuated by her shooting various styles of dress and posing seductively for the camera.

Edouard Baer as boyfriend Francois gives the film a reality in his performance, bothered by details of a series of romantic attachments and concerned with a young-30s male perspective of not wanting responsibilities of fatherhood. However, as wonderful as he is, he's not funny, which makes the lighthearted comedy sink a bit.

Jeunet's quick cuts give a cinema verite feel to the film and an episodic structure. However, "GISGBIN" seems to end abruptly rather than building to a climax. Equally puzzling is the "to be continued" moniker at the end. Continue what? Why? Did we care enough to want a second film? Despite all that the film is not, Tautou is captivating. Enjoy, if only for one night!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Let's face it...
Review: ...you're here because of Audrey Tautou. If so, let's hope you're at the end of your viewing list, because there are other far better Amelie-inspired choices out there for you. In fact, you can rank these (by the overall quality of the movie):

1) Amelie
2) Dirty, Pretty Things
3) He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
4) L'Auberge Espagnole
5) Venus (Beauty Institute)
6) God Is Great, I'm Not
7) Happenstance

[Ms. Tautou is part of the ensemble in Films 4, 5 and 7; and is the star or co-star in the others]

I'm not going to recommend that you *don't* see "God Is Great," only that there are far better alternatives out there.


Rating: 4 stars
Summary: the confused seek enlightenment
Review: Adurey Tatou stars as Michelle, a "top model" (as she verbatim defines her profession) who decides to start finding spirituality. Except she seems to think she can learn it from books and then by forcing others to teach her, rather than looking within. In this manner, she tries out Catholicism, Buddhism and Judaism the way others try on shoes.

Francois is her love interest and he is also Jewish. Michelle decides to infiltrate Francois' family and life after a one night stand that ends in her (failed) suicide attempt. In order to do this, she tries to impress them with all that she has learned about Judaism, taking classes with Francois.

At times, this movie seems as confused and misguided as Michelle, but it is still a good little flick.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Funny, great art house film
Review: Audrey Tatou is exceptional!

'God is Great' shows Tatou, once again, in the shoes of an exquisitely quirky, young woman seeking enlightenment. Her on again - off again boyfriend, Francois, is a non-practicing Jew. Tatou decides to convert herself in order to convert him, more or less.

In the story's journey, Michelle (Tatou) and Francois break up and get back together several times, and show that some things are just beyond the reaches of faith. Sometimes, people need each other despite their differences. You can't live with them, but you most definitely can't live without them, either.

Overall, 'God is Great' was a beautiful film with deeper sentiment.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Frothy romantic comedy
Review: Audrey Tautou captured worldwide attention as the gamine heroine of "Amelie." Now in lightweight comedy "God is Great, And I'm Not," Tautou tackles a rather more neurotic kind of romantic story, a frothy take on religion and love.

Michèle (Tautou) is a model without much direction in her life in the aftermath of a bad breakup and an abortion. Depressed, she abandons Catholicism and tries Buddhism, but that falls through as well. Then she meets François (Edouard Baer), a veterinarion who is Jewish. Though he's nonpracticing, Michèle becomes determined to convert to Judaism.

And like many converts, she develops a sort of religious fervor, even chastising her lover for failing to be devout enough. She's driving him up the wall with her enthusiasm. Things get even more complicated when François's family arrives from Israel, and Michèle discovers something that may complicate their relationship even further...

"God is Great And I'm Not" (original French title: "Dieu est grand, je suis toute petite") is a cute comedy, fluffy and not too serious. The religious angle of the film, surprisingly, doesn't weigh it down at all -- it's just a sort of focal point for Michèle's obsessions. Her attitudes toward other religions are just as funny (like falling asleep during meditation -- a definite no-no).

The storyline is thin, and as a result the plot tends to chase its own tail to eat up time. Pascale Bailly is also a bit awkward with this story, trying to make the editing seem quirky. Instead it seems choppy and self-conscious. She has a pretty good idea of how to create cute little jokes and conflicts (the cigarette lighting), however, and keep our interest in Michèle and François going.

Tautou keeps the movie afloat through the rough spots. Even though Michèle is something of a ditz, the actress keeps her likable and sympathetic, as she searches for meaning in her life and stumbles over her own feet. Edouard Baer mainly gets to show irritation toward Michèle, but Baer does what he can with his stressed character.

Religious fervor has rarely been so weird as in "God is Great And I'm Not." Unsteady editing and a thin storyline would have sunk this with a worse lead, but with the talented Tautou leading it becomes a sweet, slightly fitful comedy.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: thumbs down
Review: I thought this was going to be an interesting movie. I've seen most of Audrey's movies and this one has to be the worse so far. It is pretty boring, slow moving, and the plots just doesn't grab you. Similar themes are explored through her other movies, but are done much better. it doesn't have the effect that any of her other movies have. It's just a rather strange movie,that I don't plan on watching again.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Audrey Tautou embarks on a spiritual journey.
Review: It's difficult to resist watching Audrey Tautou perform on the big screen; her talent has resulted a reputation within France and for fans of French cinema worldwide. In recent years her films have both entertained and made me smile. GOD IS GREAT, AND I'M NOT, while not one of her best, is nonetheless a worthy film in itself. In this film Michelle (Audrey) is a reclusive model who feels unfulfilled from practicing Catholicism and as a result embarks on a spiritual journey through Buddhism and Judaism to find sacred contentment. One of her weaknesses is a tendency to dive headfirst into the literature and traditions of her adopted religion to the extent of being overly zealous. Michele meets her match when she discovers that her new boyfriend, Francois, is Jewish. While Francois is not a practicing Jew Michele goes to the extreme of strictly observing Shabbat and attending conversion classes. The resulting tension between this couple creates several funny and comical scenes. Despite these scenes, this film does have a propensity to drag its feet. Additionally I felt the scenes of her hysterical mother don't fit well within the plot as a whole. Even so GOD IS GREAT, AND I'M NOT is a light fun film that fans of Tautou will enjoy. 3.5 stars.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Barely 3 Stars Thanks to Tautou's Charms (and Many Costumes)
Review: Some call it a romantic comedy. For a romantic comedy, however, 'God Is Great, And I'm Not' sounds very strange, isn't it? Well, the contents of the film are not as strange as the title suggests, but the film itself is, I have to say, far from perfect. Not that it is not amusing. Just it feels like going on and on and on....

Now the story is about Michelle (played by lovely, adorable Audrey Tautou), who is in love with a vet Francois (about 10 years older). And the story is ... er, that's it. She is in love with him, and the script describes the various episodes concerning the love relations between the two characters over one year. It borrows the style of a diary presumably written by Michelle, who records every details about her love, her family, her jobs, and ... her love.

So, don't expect the traditional storytelling style. If you need a sense of closure for your film (like 'Happily Ever After' ending), you might as well skip this one and see 'Amelie' again. The relations between the two neither develops nor dissolves. It goes round and round, and perhaps that's the point.

I admit there are several interesting, and emotionally charged moments in the film. Still, it is very demanding to follow the endless 'story' and apparently superficial behaviours of the characters, that of Michelle in particular, but I think that is the film's intention. Michelle considers conversion simply because her Francois is Jewish (while Francois does not demand it, and is not a devoted believer of any religion himself). Michelle's actions are often superficial, or Michelle IS superficial, reading many books about religion.

OK, but what worries me constantly is, by just tracing Michelle and other characters's superficial behaviours, the film itself, which lacks the sure footing to observe them (fondly or detachedly), becomes superficial too. To make matters worse, director Pascale Bailly uses many irritating camera works trying to impress us, such as jump-cuts or voiceovers. Soemtimes the camera floats in the air, rotating to and fro when a more orthodox way of shooting is necessary. Do you need the 'French New Wave' school when you want to see a love romance? I don't think so.

THE ONLY CHARM of the film comes, not surprisingly, from Audrey Tautou. Her character is fashion model, and to justify the setting, she changes her clothes and hairstyles every time she appears on the screen. Even among the repetitous, ultimately boring series of episodes, she continues to enchant us with her acting, and that is nearly a miracle. But we had already seen the real miracle in 'Amelie,' and we need that kind of irresistible magic, which is based on the firm confidence in the time-honoured, orthodox, girl-meets-boy love story.


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