Valley of Love

"Valley of Death" (2015 release from France; 94 min.) brings the story of Isabelle and Gerard. As the movie opens, we see Isabelle walking through a resort, suitcase-on-wheels in tow, and checking in her room. The next day or so, Gerard also checks in, and soon we understand that they area a long-divorced couple who are mourning the suicide of their 31 yr. old son Michael. In his suicide note, Michael invites his parents to be in Death Valley on November 12, 2014, where he promises to see them again. At this point we are 15 min. into the movie but to tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: while Isabelle Huppert and Gerard Depardieu have been in movies together before, it's been decades since the last time. Here they play a fictional version of themselves (at one point, a guest in the resort tells Gerard, 'hey I recognize you, what movie were you in again? do you mind giving me an autograph?", which Gerard signs as "Robert de Niro", ha!). Isabelle and Gerard (the movie characters) have not seen each other in YEARS, and now struggle to understand their son's death, and why they are in Death Valley anyway. Will Michael appear, as he promised? (I won't spoil....) Meanwhile, Isabelle and Gerad talk, and talk some more, and then yet some more. At least the photography (filmed in Death Valley) is eye candy from start to finish. Which is more than we can say about Depardieu, grossly overweight (and has been for years), shown way too many times with far too little clothing. I had the good fortune of visiting Death Valley a few years back, and was surprised how beautiful it was, truly a memorable visit and I'd readily recommend you do it if you have the chance (I did it as a day-long trip from Vegas, which is 2 hours away).

"Valley Of Love" premiered at the 2015 Cannes film festival. I can't recall whether it ever received a release in US theaters (and if it did, it bypassed Cincinnati). But I saw it at my local library the other day and immediately picked it up. The movie was okay, not great, not bad. The movie's entire raison d'être is to watch these giants of French cinema act together. For that alone, I'd have to give 7 or 8 stars, but alas, I can't as the underlying story is paper-thin. Even "Huppert" and "Depardieu" (as they are billed in the credits) can only do so much with the little material they are given here.