Festival In Cannes (2001)

65% of critics liked it
(54 reviews)
30% of users liked it
(797 ratings)

The romance, intrigue, and industry politics of the world's biggest film festival -- which is also the world's biggest film marketplace -- provides the backdrop for this typically understated comedy-drama from director Henry Jaglom. Alice Palmer (Greta Scacchi) is a well-known American actress who… More The romance, intrigue, and industry politics of the world's biggest film festival -- which is also the world's biggest film marketplace -- provides the backdrop for this typically understated comedy-drama from director Henry Jaglom. Alice Palmer (Greta Scacchi) is a well-known American actress who has written a screenplay that she'd like to direct, and she arrives a the Cannes Film Festival to look for investors. Alice has her eyes on veteran star Millie Marquand (Anouk Aimee) to play the lead, but while Millie loves the script, she's been offered a better-paying supporting role in an upcoming Tom Hanks project. Meanwhile, Millie's former husband Viktor Kovner (Maximilian Schell) is a director fallen on hard times who is trying to scare up financing for his own film. Producer Rick Yorkin (Ron Silver) wouldn't mind leaving Millie in the lurch if it meant landing Alice for his next project. Kaz (Zack Norman) is a less-than-scrupulous producer hoping to put some sort of package deal together. And Blue (Jenny Gabrielle) is a young woman whose shoestring budget independent film has become an unexpected smash hit. Shot in the midst of the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, Festival In Cannes features cameos from such stars as Jeff Goldblum, Holly Hunter, Faye Dunnaway, and William Shatner. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 39 min.
Directed By: Henry Jaglom
Written By: Victoria Foyt, Henry Jaglom
Genres: Drama, Comedy

In Theaters: Mar 8, 2002 Wide
On DVD: Sep 24, 2002
Studio: Paramount Classics

Critic Reviews

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
In the end, we don't see enough of Cannes and maybe too much of Kaz. But you have to accept or reject Jaglom as you might a walk on the Croisette, taking the bitter with the sweet.
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail
A picture as charmingly insubstantial as the world it invokes.
Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel
At its best ... Festival in Cannes bubbles with the excitement of the festival in Cannes.
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
A witty, trenchant, wildly unsentimental but flawed look at the ins and outs of modern moviemaking.
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
One of [Jaglom's] better efforts -- a wry and sometime bitter movie about love.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
The locale ... remains far more interesting than the story at hand.
John A. Nesbit, Old School Reviews
should be edited down to a 5-minute promotional trailer
Scott Weinberg, Apollo Guide
Those looking for a light and decidedly untraditional comedy will find some smart and witty exchanges within; those who consider Adam Sandler an underrated genius may be bored stiff.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Henry Jaglom's lighthearted satire of Hollywood wheeler-dealers goes as far as the director is willing to bite...
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
This is impressively carried off by a fine cast, particularly the luminous Aimee and Greta Scacchi whose career has intriguing parallels with those of the character she plays.
Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Jaglom ... put[s] the audience in the privileged position of eavesdropping on his characters
Karina Montgomery, Cinerina
The seaside splendor and shallow, beautiful people are nice to look at while you wait for the story to get going.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
The cast is so low-wattage that none of the characters comes off as big ... and the setting remains indistinct.
William A. Sievert, Orlando Weekly
Jaglom's latest is his most mature work to date, one with fresh insights into the people who decide what we experience at our cineplexes.
Jeff Vice, Deseret News, Salt Lake City
May be Jaglom at his most self-serving and self-righteous.

Read all 15 critic reviews

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Mark A

A behind-the-scenes look at the madness that is Cannes, the film follows several people who are in town to make the deal that will keep their careers afloat. There is an actress, turned script writer (Gretchen Scachi) trying to sell her script. There is the aging actress (Anouk Aimee)… More
A behind-the-scenes look at the madness that is Cannes, the film follows several people who are in town to make the deal that will keep their careers afloat. There is an actress, turned script writer (Gretchen Scachi) trying to sell her script. There is the aging actress (Anouk Aimee) who hasn't had a leading role in some time. There is her ex-husband (Maximilian Schell), a director who hasn't helmed a film in almost as long, in town with his Italian starlet girlfriend. And a big-budget Hollywood producer (Ron Silver) who has been tasked with signing the aging actress to a bit part in order to land the big names that will carry the film. In the process, old lovers reunite, players get played, and new lovers find one another. Given the insincerity of everyone's shtick, one has to wonder which of these pairings are destined to survive the week. The film is awash with familiar faces, and some not so familiar. It appears to have been shot during an actual week of the famous Cannes Film Festival, and derives a certain authenticity from that. A very well-done, entertaining piece that may not bring world peace, but it does manage to keep one chuckling for a little over an hour and a half.

Cast

            Jenny Gabrielle as Blue

            Greta Scacchi as Alice Palmer

            Kim Kolarich as Libby

            Rachel Bailit as Nikki

            Zack Norman as Kaz Naiman

            Pamela Shaw as Millie's Agent

            Anouk Aimée as Millie Marquand

            Vernon Dobtcheff as Millie's Escort

            Christian Rallo as Fan in Crowd

            Ron Silver as Rick Yorkin

            Alex Craig Mann as Barry

            Maximilian Schell as Viktor Kovner

            Camilla Campanale as Gina

            Marya Kazakova as TV Interviewer

            Peter Bogdanovich as Milo

            Louise Stratten as Milo's Girlfriend

            Robert Shaye as Bert Shuster

            J. C. Irondelle
            
            William Shatner
            
            Faye Dunaway
            
            Liam Dunaway O'Neill
            
            John Cruikshank
            
            Jeff Goldblum as Himself

            Holly Hunter
            
            Michael White (I)
            
            Maximillian Schell
            
See full cast