Rating: 
Summary: Roman Coppola's Interesting Homage to the Time of Barbarella
Review: "CQ" is the first feature film directed by Roman Coppola, son of much famous director Francis Ford. But you should forget that fact for a while, and enjoy the strange world of the 1960s he created for the film. The film is set in Paris in 1969, the time of revolution. An American film editor Paul (Jeremy Davis) is working for a small studio there hired by an Italian producer (Giancarlo Giannini, "Hannibal"). At his small flat, with his camera, Paul keeps on filming his own life, or making a film about the "truth" of life -- meaning cinema verite, you got it? -- while his sweet French girlfriend is not so enthusiastic about his works. Well, his life seems going nowhere when suddenly he is given a chance: a chance to direct a grade B-Sci-fi movie "Dragonfly" (not that Kevin's film). But there is one big trouble. They could not find the right ending of the film yet. Coppola's "CQ" proceeds side by side with Paul's film-within-film "Dragonfly," featuring the titular female spy, who looks as if coming straight from "Modesty Blaise" and "Barbarella." Paul is absorbed in making this film, and drawn to the heroine (and its actress Valentine, perfectly played by Angela Lindvall) while his own life, especially the relations with his girlfriend, begins gradually to play the secondary role. Even if you are not particularly a fan of the films of the late 60s, you'll soon find that the greatest virtue of "CQ" lies in its re-creation of the psychedelic fashion and energetic atomosphere of the time. Cheep-looking, but strangely amusing production designs, and delightfully quirky costumes of "Dragonfly" would be joyful to you, especially when you have some knowledge about the time of Yellow Submarine even though Paul's own story is, compared with the detailed images of "Dragonfly," weak and uninteresting. You can, however, find lots of intriguing reference to the films in the past, and its interesting cast are really helpful. See. for example, the faces of Billy Zane, Jason Schwartzman, Gerard Depardieu, Sophia Coppola, Dean Stockwell, and John Phillip Law (who was in, yes, "Barbarella"). The film (I mean the entire "CQ" and "Dragonfly") is sometimes too self-indulgent, but the first-time player Lindvall is so credible as beautiful Dragonfly/Valentine that if you fondly remember that constumes of Jane Fonda, you will love her anyway. And the French group Mellow's soundtrack, which might remind you of the music of the Beatles of post-Sgt. Pepper era, is another merit of the film.
Rating:
Summary: Roman Coppola's Interesting Homage to the Time of Barbarella
Review: "CQ" is the first feature film directed by Roman Coppola, son of much famous director Francis Ford. But you should forget that fact for a while, and enjoy the strange world of the 1960s he created for the film. The film is set in Paris in 1969, the time of revolution. An American film editor Paul (Jeremy Davis) is working for a small studio there hired by an Italian producer (Giancarlo Giannini, "Hannibal"). At his small flat, with his camera, Paul keeps on filming his own life, or making a film about the "truth" of life -- meaning cinema verite, you got it? -- while his sweet French girlfriend is not so enthusiastic about his works. Well, his life seems going nowhere when suddenly he is given a chance: a chance to direct a grade B-Sci-fi movie "Dragonfly" (not that Kevin's film). But there is one big trouble. They could not find the right ending of the film yet. Coppola's "CQ" proceeds side by side with Paul's film-within-film "Dragonfly," featuring the titular female spy, who looks as if coming straight from "Modesty Blaise" and "Barbarella." Paul is absorbed in making this film, and drawn to the heroine (and its actress Valentine, perfectly played by Angela Lindvall) while his own life, especially the relations with his girlfriend, begins gradually to play the secondary role. Even if you are not particularly a fan of the films of the late 60s, you'll soon find that the greatest virtue of "CQ" lies in its re-creation of the psychedelic fashion and energetic atomosphere of the time. Cheep-looking, but strangely amusing production designs, and delightfully quirky costumes of "Dragonfly" would be joyful to you, especially when you have some knowledge about the time of Yellow Submarine even though Paul's own story is, compared with the detailed images of "Dragonfly," weak and uninteresting. You can, however, find lots of intriguing reference to the films in the past, and its interesting cast are really helpful. See. for example, the faces of Billy Zane, Jason Schwartzman, Gerard Depardieu, Sophia Coppola, Dean Stockwell, and John Phillip Law (who was in, yes, "Barbarella"). The film (I mean the entire "CQ" and "Dragonfly") is sometimes too self-indulgent, but the first-time player Lindvall is so credible as beautiful Dragonfly/Valentine that if you fondly remember that constumes of Jane Fonda, you will love her anyway. And the French group Mellow's soundtrack, which might remind you of the music of the Beatles of post-Sgt. Pepper era, is another merit of the film.
Rating: 
Summary: A Classic
Review: A great film. It captures something about that era and that kind of moviemaking that no other film ever has. When I heard Roman was going to do this, I knew it would be perfect. After seeing the videos he directed for the Strokes, it was obvious that he had the perfect style for it. A great performance by Jeremy Davies. Angela (the girl who plays Dragonfly) is gorgeous. And Giancarlo Gianini completely channels the spirit of Dino De Laurentis. This film is a joy to watch. I'd suggest seeing maybe Barbarella or Danger: Diabolik to get some footing on the era, but it's not necessary. It's nice to know movies this personal are still being made.
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely Disapointed
Review: As someone who has enjoyed In Like Flint and Barbarella and other movies of the era, I thought this movie would be along the same lines. After watching CQ I found out it couldn't have been farther from the truth. The movie within the movie was interesting and would have made the movie more enjoyable if it was done better. The "Secret Agent" part of the movie would have made a great "B" movie if it was more than just a short portion of the film. However the "real" part of the movie left a lot to be desired.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Disapointed
Review: As someone who has enjoyed In Like Flint and Barbarella and other movies of the era, I thought this movie would be along the same lines. After watching CQ I found out it couldn't have been farther from the truth. The movie within the movie was interesting and would have made the movie more enjoyable if it was done better. The "Secret Agent" part of the movie would have made a great "B" movie if it was more than just a short portion of the film. However the "real" part of the movie left a lot to be desired.
Rating: 
Summary: CQ, Dragonfly, & A 1st Time Directors' Vision
Review: Cheeky, cheesy, funny, and thoughtful! I discovered this small gem of a film and rented it w/no idea of it except for what the back cover disclosed. Upon initial reading, I thought it might be akin to the "Matt Helm" or "Flynnt" films of the 1960's with a twist or a spoof of the spy film genre. I was wrong.
It's Roman Coppola's (Nicholas Cage's cousin) sentimental treatment of his early movie-watching experience as well as the personel odyssey of a first time director against the backdrop of the making of a late 60's/early 70's spy film. The idea of a film within a film is not new and could be confusing; however, Mr. Coppola's use of the technique works for him here. Though it is not the best film of 2002, it is an intelligent, thought-provoking, and entertaining little movie.
The caliber of talent Mr. Coppola assembled in Jeremy Davis, Elodie Bouchez, Angela Lindvall, Giancarlo Giannini, Gerard Depardieu, Jason Schwartzman, John Philip Law, and Dean Stockwell go a long way in making this a little gem and not a lump of coal. The choice for casting worked nicely for this 1st time director. The confusion and searching portrayed by Davis' character kept me interested in his trials and tribulations as he tries to find truth through the media of movies in his life. It is his search that ultimately made me like the film. This main character is neither good or bad, but a man trying to find his way in the world he has chosen, meanwhile, like the rest of us, he still has a day job [sound editor-turn-director] to contend with while searching. It is Mr. Coppola's handling of this character that will either keep or lose you in the film. His first outing shows he has definite potential and not just b/c of family ties. As his first directorial movie, its likable.
On a secondary note, the music and cinematography are reminiscent of the times. The Dragonfly visual sequences and soundtrack provided by Mellow almost take you back to those psycodelic times. Compare the Dragonfly scenes w/movies of the same period and you will notice how well the cinematography was done. The background music, though could sound cheesy, comes across authentic. In both categories, Mr. Coppola did nicely. It would seem his choice of music was influenced by his sister's "The Virgin Suicides" OST, except the dark electro-synth sounds of Air are replaced in "CQ" with the dreamy, relaxed sounds of Mellow.
In conclusion, if you're looking for a little movie done sentimentally, but not sappy about a person searching for truth to the background of some laid-back sounds, then CQ is the film for you.
Rating:
Summary: A quirky pop culture piece
Review: CQ is entertaining and funny at parts.Its not a laugh out loud movie but its offbeat humour provides some decent chuckles.An Ambitious film maker who spends his days filming his life,works as an editor on a sci-fi film.Through some mishaps he ends up becoming the director.The story takes place in 1969-70,and coppola provided a nice portarit of paris at that time.The sets and music were done quite well.The acting by some of the cast was spendid esp,the producer who cant decide how many films he has produced.All in all it is a nice quirky film that was fun to watch but the ending result is'nt very satisfying.I recomend watching this when you are bored.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: CQ really is a treasure. I was first intrigued by this film when I saw the soundtrack lying in a local bookstore. I thought it was a film from the 60's, but sure enough there was a cast that included modern-day players like Jeremy Davies, Billy Zane and the ever-quirky Jason Schwartzman. I found the film and was really intrigued by it for a long, long time. Finally I decided to buy it, without even viewing it first. And I'm very happy I did. CQ is a real delight about the little guy rising up and taking charge. Jeremy Davies is really enjoyable as Paul Ballard, a young American filmmaker living in Paris, searching for his inner-self. Angela Lindvall gives a suprisingly real and sweet performance as Valentine and a sexy, cat-like performance as Dragonfly. I was surprised that this was her first film. The extras on this DVD are very unique and watchable. In closing, CQ is a really fun, well-written, well-directed film and my advice is that you buy it!
Rating:
Summary: godard and antonioni with a little satire on the side
Review: Godard brought an element of playfulness to the cinema. He turned the conventions of filmmaking and writing upside down. Roman Coppola seems to be following Godard's lead, about 40 years afterwards. The story is silly, routed in satire not all that different from Kubrick and Godard. It's the story of a young understudy, who after studying under several directors (the unhappy artist re: Coppola or Kubrick and the glitzy sci-fi sex and action guy re: Lucas) on the same film, eventually gets his big break since he knows the film best. He's seen ever inch of the film backwards and forwards repeatedly on the editing table. Why he was given this break, we are not sure. Could the producers have thought they could create a puppet to make the film their way? Not to mention that he's in love with a stunning lead actress who's otherworldly beauty could only actually exist in the movies. But the plot plays second fiddle to much of the philosophy behind the film. The critical analysis of filmmaking, especially that of Hollywood filmmaking The cinematography and set design looks like a combination of Blow up and a low budget 2001: A Space Oddessy. And the soundtrack is very similar to the atmospheric ambience created in the Virgin Suicides. The only problem with CQ is that it seems too short. Maybe Coppola thought he couldn't pull the joke off for more than 90 minutes but I was left wanting more.
Rating:
Summary: Yes, Four Stars
Review: I agree with most reviews in that this movie had no real punch at the end that made it feel complete. But, it was interesting the whole way through, a highly enjoyable rental. Thats more than one can say for 99% of the movies out there. Hence, four stars.
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