THE INNOCENT (B) - Writer-director Louis Garrel stars as Abel, a young widower who grows concerned after his mom, who teaches acting in a prison, marries an inmate, who starts acting shady after his release. Abel indulges his anxiety by surveilling Michel (Roschdy Zem), only to get caught up in Michel's criminal shenanigans.
There is an air of melancholy and gloom that pervades this otherwise light-hearted French farce. That includes Abel's mom, Silvie (Anouk Grinberg), who has finally found true love and resents Abel's interference in her relationship. Then there is Abel's friend Clemence (Noemie Merlant), who lords her love of casual sex over Abel's mournful celibacy.
Some of this doesn't quite add up, and the shifts in tone can be annoying, but the four principal actors (Zem especially) create nuanced characters whose interactions are cleverly shape-shifting, building a momentum that helps this zip along at 98 minutes. A twist halfway through -- drawing Abel and Clemence into a play-acting scenario that serves as a therapeutic breakthrough to their relationship -- provides a narrative spark that revives the film and draws us in to a sober but fun organized-crime caper. Garrel, the son of celebrated filmmaker Philippe, shows an easygoing style and an ear for minor-key storytelling.
AVA (2017) (B+) - Ava is 13 years old and starting to lose her sight, mostly her night vision. And then along comes a boy, and she seems determined to seize the opportunity to lust for life while she still can.
Noee Abita, with an engaging pout, resembles a young Adele Exarchopoulos, and her big eyes are expressive and a bit judging. Her feisty mother (Laure Calamy) urges Ava to indulge her budding desires. Ava meets the troubled young immigrant, Juan (Juan Cano), on the beach and flirts with him but also covets his dog. When she learns that Juan has been injured and is hiding out on the beach, she tends to his wound and falls for his rugged charms. She is thrilled to go on a solo mission to retrieve Juan's ID card to help him stay ahead of the law.
This coming-of-age rage tale comes from Lea Mysius, who co-wrote the fascinating "Paris, 13th District" and more recently directed Exarchopoulos in "The Five Devils." She has great confidence behind the camera, and a looseness to her narrative flow. Abita (riveting in "Slalom"), was nearly an adult while playing a 13-year-old girl, and she struts ferociously at times, especially during an inspired scene in which Ava and Juan paint their nubile bodies in mud, wield sticks and a shotgun, and rob beachgoers in broad daylight, like a feral bare-chested update of Bonnie and Clyde.
That jaunt typifies the danger and dread which permeates the film, even though the movie overall can be quite sweet and insightful. Mysius crafts a climax that would sit well in a typical action film. We watch wide-eyed, knowing that our hungry young heroine someday will lose the opportunity to fully experience such exploits.
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