La Danse, Fredrick Wiseman’s documentary about the Paris Opera Ballet, drew a crowd to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Thursday night that included several Houston Ballet dancers.
The doc studiously (perhaps a bit too studiously) details the daily routines of the dancers. It depicts performances ranging from the jolly Nutcracker to a very bloody Medea, along with the hour after hour of tedious practice that makes the performances possible. In typical Wiseman fashion, the viewers are also introduced the ballet’s bureaucrats, maintenance men, and fund-raisers.
Even the house bee keeper.
The sight of Lehman Brothers execs being treated to a backstage view of the ballet, in exchange for a hefty contribution, evoked a nervous chuckle.
Why weren’t they home minding their bank?
When Cinema Arts Festival curator Richard Herskowitz booked the film, he had no idea that The New York Times’ film critic A. O. Scott was going to run a high-profile review of it (in which Scott called L’Danse “one of the finest dance films ever made”).
But suddenly the movie is “hot,” according to the MFAH’s Marian Luntz. It’ll open at the Angelika in December or January.
Speaking of the Angelika, a 9:45 p.m. screening of Amores Perros drew a full house to one of the theater’s smaller auditoriums. Working on Mexico City time (and long after this writer’s bedtime), writer Guillermo Arriaga did his Q&A after the 150-minute had unspooled.
A scene from "L'Danse," with the Paris Opera Ballet rehearsing "The Nutcracker"
Of all the formulaic movie genres, Christmas/holiday movies are among the most predictable. No matter what the problem is that arises between family members, friends, or potential romantic partners, the stories in holiday movies are designed to give viewers a feel-good ending even if the majority of the movie makes you feel pretty bad.
That’s certainly the case in Oh. What. Fun., in which Michelle Pfeiffer plays Claire, an underappreciated mom living in Houston with her inattentive husband, Nick (Denis Leary). As the film begins, her three children are arriving back home for Christmas: The high-strung Channing (Felicity Jones) is married to the milquetoast Doug (Jason Schwartzman); the aloof Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz) brings home yet another new girlfriend; and the perpetual child Sammy (Dominic Sessa) has just broken up with his girlfriend.
Each of the family members seems to be oblivious to everything Claire does for them, especially when it comes to what she really wants: For them to nominate her to win a trip to see a talk show in L.A. hosted by Zazzy Tims (Eva Longoria). When she accidentally gets left behind on a planned outing to see a show, Claire reaches her breaking point and — in a kind of Home Alone in reverse — she decides to drive across the country to get to the show herself.
Written and directed by Michael Showalter (The Idea of You), and co-written by Chandler Baker (who wrote the short story on which the film is based), the movie never establishes any kind of enjoyable rhythm. Each of the characters, including competitive neighbor Jeanne (Joan Chen), is assigned a character trait that becomes their entire personality, with none of them allowed to evolve into something deeper.
The filmmakers lean hard into the idea that Claire is a person who always puts her family first and receives very little in return, but the evidence presented in the story is sketchy at best. Every situation shown in the film is so superficial that tension barely exists, and the (over)reactions by Claire give her family members few opportunities to make up for their failings.
The most interesting part of the movie comes when Claire actually makes it to the Zazzy Sims show. Even though what happens there is just as unbelievable as anything else presented in the story, Showalter and Baker concoct a scene that allows Claire and others to fully express the central theme of the film, and for a few minutes the movie actually lives up to its title.
Pfeiffer, given her first leading role since 2020’s French Exit, is a somewhat manic presence, and her thick Texas accent and unnecessary voiceover don’t do her any favors. It seems weird to have such a strong supporting cast with almost nothing of substance to do, but almost all of them are wasted, including Danielle Brooks in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo. The lone exception is Longoria, who is a blast in the few scenes she gets.
Oh. What. Fun. is far from the first movie to try and fail at becoming a new holiday classic, but the pedigree of Showalter and the cast make this dismal viewing experience extra disappointing. Ironically, overworked and underappreciated moms deserve a much better story than the one this movie delivers.
