Sequel lacks charm of ‘L’Auberge’
Published 9:00 pm Thursday, July 6, 2006
It wasn’t a big arthouse hit in the States, but “L’Auberge Espagnole” was a huge smash in Europe. Such success was no big mystery.
That 2002 movie was a charming wish-fulfillment romance about a batch of international students spending a year in Barcelona. Since my college career never went farther afield than Husky Stadium, I found it pleasurable to imagine the exotic fun of an education abroad.
Writer-director Cedric Klapisch didn’t wait long to make a sequel. Unfortunately, it turns out to be overly gimmicky in style, and cutesy where the first film was charming. “Russian Dolls” is set five years later, and follows central character Xavier (Romain Duris) as he gets serious about being a writer.
He doesn’t get far – the best he can do is land a job writing an inane soap opera for French TV. When the show suddenly needs to be in English, he goes to Britain and re-connects with former college dorm-mate Wendy (Kelly Reilly), who’s a writer herself.
But this is only one thread, albeit a major one. Much of the film is devoted to Xavier’s hectic sex life, which ping-pongs around (among others) a famous supermodel (Lucy Gordon), for whom he’s ghost-writing an autobiography.
The other cast members from “L’Auberge Espagnole” also play parts: Audrey Tatou takes time off from her career as a “Da Vinci Code” heroine by returning to the role of Xavier’s ex, who’s now got a child. Cecile de France (“Haute Tension”) encores as Xavier’s lesbian pal, who lets him stay at her apartment for a while.
Meanwhile, the plot strand that brings all the Barcelona friends back together in the end is the impending nuptials of Wendy’s brother, William (Kevin Bishop), the former goof-off who’s now in love with a Russian ballerina. The gang will have to travel to St. Petersburg for the wedding.
Maybe the strongest thing about “L’Auberge” was the ensemble comedy. Klapisch has miscalculated here by throwing the movie on the back of Xavier, for whom the other characters become mere satellites.
It’s not that actor Romain Duris isn’t up to it. His performance last year in the terrific “Beat That My Heart Skipped” confirmed him as a leading young European actor.
But Klapisch’s conception of the role turns Xavier into a goatish horndog, waxing poetic as he trashes his one solid relationship with a woman. Klapisch is aiming for the reflective humor of Francois Truffaut’s classic movies, but he doesn’t cut deep.
Another sequel is in the talking stage, but it hardly seems worth it. Ah well – we’ll always have Barcelona.
