18 Years Old and Rising(2011) Rendez-vous with French Cinema

One of the few rules that I made when I started going to press screenings was that if I go to a press screening I would write up anything I saw. This really hasn't been a problem, except when I had too many movies to write up at one time (hello Tribeca and NYFF). Usually I can find something to say say even if it's to say I'm not reviewing it (I refused to review Policeman at last years NYFF).

With 18 Years Old and Rising I've run into a complete lack of words.

To be honest I don't know what to say, except it's not that good.

The plot has Primo trying to get by in his tiny Paris flat. He's studying to pass his exams and trying to make money. He heads home to vote in his first election but crashes heads with his parents so he heads back to Paris. Crashing a party he meets some rich kids, including one he falls for, and another who falls for him.

A movie that works in pieces, all of the individual scenes seem to work on their own, the problem is that scenes together create a bland story, and it forces you to ask yourself who would care about such a bunch of twits?

Seriously I really didn't care much for anyone. Most of the characters are shallow jerks, even Primo who I sided with until he took all the money his parents had given him (and which he swore he had spent on food and other costs) to buy a bottle of wine that was as much as four months rent. At that point I lost all respect for him. We're suppose to root for this guy? I simply stopped caring and wanted Delphine, the girl with the hots for him, to wise up.

The only three characters who are of any interest is Primo's neighbor who is politically active; Delphine, the girl who love Primo (She belongs in another film); and Delphine's father. All three are short changed by the film, with Delphine coming out the worst since she basically pines in the background until the last 20 minutes of the film.

While I smiled and enjoyed pieces, the feeling I had when it was done was "I got up two hours early to see this?"

Yea, I did.(Yea I'm a moron sometimes)

As of this writing I've seen four films at Rendezvous with French Cinema and this is by far the least.

Take a pass.

(For information on the sold out screening at Lincoln Center click here)