Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Megamind To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Walter Sloane Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

gridoon2018 The French are the masters of the slow, quiet, civilized, sophisticated psychological thriller, and "The Page Turner" is one such film. Only a few drops of blood are spilled, in just one scene; this is a story of brutal psychological manipulation. Writer-director Denis Dercourt almost out-Chabrols Claude Chabrol; he keeps teasing us about how far Melanie's character is prepared to go, and about the possibility of her having second thoughts. But even if we are certain that she is going to go through with her revenge, we don't know how or when she will exact it. Déborah François underplays beautifully - the viewer can't read what she's thinking or feeling, which is exactly the point. This is a pitch-perfect little thriller. *** out of 4.

Rozinda Spoilers throughout You realise very early on I think that the young girl is going to be trouble. She never seems lively. She rarely smiles, or if she does it doesn't seem from happiness. She's very intense, as is the whole movie. This movie decidedly is not a barrel of laughs. In fact, I can't recall if there's a single laugh to be had from it. Don't let that put you off! It's well worth watching.The President of the selection committee is most definitely ill-mannered and indeed a disgrace. To allow someone to come into the audition room and then to sign a photograph during the young girl's playing is utterly disgraceful. Mme President is sitting right in the view of the young girl - the disturbance was unmissable. Even more curiously, we saw the associate with the photograph earlier, and Mme President dismissed her when she could have done the signature then if it was so urgent. Well, something has to happen so that the girl is disturbed and this is how it's very awkwardly contrived, it makes the selection committee as a whole seem totally incompetent (ie no-one seems surprised at Mme President's behaviour), and I felt it was a major weakness in the plot.However, it happens, and everything that follows is done splendidly. It's even clever that you think the young girl is out to commit a murder, but in the end she doesn't. Did she intend to and change her mind? Hard to say.With her revenge completed to her satisfaction, the young girl makes off leaving her victims in a suitable mess. Marriage broken up. Son with injury that has adverse implications for his piano-playing.Someone else remarked on the stiffness of the characters physically. Yes, I've also seen it before in French movies. It does seem to be a mannered form of acting liked by some directors. It doesn't detract from the acting, but it always seems very strange. No-one slouches naturally, nor even walks normally. They all seem to have sticks up their spines so they have to stand bolt upright and never relax. Well, you either like it or you don't but you sure notice it.

Dennis Littrell This French language film is about a revenge that is as cold as one could imagine short of some kind of physical violence. Melanie, the 10-year-old precocious child of a butcher and his wife, is set for an audition that will determine whether she gets into a prestigious musical academy. She is calm, cool, confident and very talented. All goes well until about halfway through when one of the students comes in to get the autograph of one of the judges (Ariane Fourchecourt played by Catherine Frot). Melanie is distracted and commits a finger-fault or two, and is not admitted. She leaves in tears but not before slamming the keyboard cover down on the student's fingers. Small revenge.The backlighting as the opening credits roll emphasizes the butcher's trade: the cold, indifferent cutting of dead animal bodies. This is contrasted with the fine art of classical music. It is a beautiful setup for what is to come. My congratulations to director Denis Dercourt who orchestrated this petite cinematic masterwork. Everything is done with a minimum of explanation and certainly without any talking of the plot. We see and draw conclusions. The camera shows; the events reveal; and if we are astute we can guess what is to come. Maybe. But the plot plays out in unpredictable ways like a good thriller, and we are surprised by turns.Some years pass and the preadolescent Melanie is now a young woman played by the bewitching Deborah Francois. We know she is the same person as the younger Melanie played by Julie Richalet because she affects the same severe hair style and the same cold, almost unfeeling countenance. By accident she goes to work as a nanny to a young boy whose mother is the very woman who signed the autograph and caused Melanie to misplay her piece. She is concert pianist herself and the rich wife of a successful lawyer. However she doesn't remember Melanie nor have any idea that her autograph-signing led to Melanie giving up playing the piano.But enough of the plot. It is the kind of story that is best viewed cold without foreknowledge. Suffice it to say, big revenge to come. In addition to the denotative storyline there is a kind of satire on male-female relationships as usually depicted in film, on the world of the wealthy versus that of the masses, on the power of status and station versus that of raw animal beauty. As I watched Deborah Francois at work I kept thinking: she has the power even though Ariane has the money and the station.Additionally there is a play on the idea of the smooth, nearly irresistible sociopath, usually in the form of a man on the make. Here that role belongs to a woman. What she does to Ariane is nonviolent, but we see in a couple of scenes just what sort of physical violence she is capable of. I should note that some of the plot is a bit unlikely, including the fact of the interruption, which would not have been allowed during a serious audition. Also the psychology of Ariane becoming nervous when she has to perform because of a traffic accident seems a bit off. Furthermore the boy is not likely to get a sore arm from playing the piano at too fast a tempo. Still these are quibbles when compared to the interesting psychology of the film.Finally, I very much enjoyed Deborah Francois's performance and that of the other players. Her beauty captured the camera and my eyes. She intrigued and seemed entirely believable. If I were director Denis Dercourt I would make a follow up to this in which she again acts out her psychopathic nature, but maybe this time she is not so successful. However it would be hard to top the crisp, mesmerizing hour and 25 minutes of this film, one of the best psychological dramas I've seen in a while.By the way, it is said that the popular expression, "revenge is a dish best served cold" really means not that the longer you wait to enact revenge the more you will enjoy it, but instead if you wait long enough you will realize the error of revenge and forgo it. I believe this latter interpretation is correct and wise.(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)

jamieandzero First of all, if you take revenge, your victim should know for what reason revenge is taken. In this story this remains a complete mystery for the concert pianist. So, what is the use of revenge? Furthermore, the wrong person is punished: in fact, it was the autograph seeker, blatantly storming into the room where the audition was held, who was so rude to intrude herself into the privacy of the concert. In fact the only thing Madame Fouchecourt could do is just sign and get rid of the autograph seeker as soon as possible. Lastly, if you love both music and playing the piano you don't give up a career so easily, only because you were kept out of your concentration, you just start again. So the base of the story is very unrealistic. And than that scene with the cellist, horrible. No, a very silly film.