French Exit

Is there anything better than going to a movie in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday?  I submit that there is not so I went to see French Exit yesterday and, while this comedy of the absurd is a bit depressing, I found it to be strangely entertaining.  Frances Price (Michelle Pfeiffer), an aging Manhattan socialite, learns that all of the money she inherited from her late husband is gone which brings about an existential crisis for her and her son Malcolm (Lucas Hedges) who is finding it difficult to commit to his girlfriend Susan (Imogen Poots).  She decides to sell everything and move to a friend's empty apartment in Paris with Malcolm and a cat that may or may not be the reincarnation of her late husband (Tracy Letts).  As she and Malcolm try to find redemption, they accumulate an eccentric group of people around them including a lonely American expat (Valerie Mahaffey), a clairvoyant that they meet on the crossing to France (Danielle Macdonald), the private investigator they hire to find her (Isaach de Bankole), Susan and her new boyfriend (Daniel di Tomasso), and, eventually, the owner of the apartment who comes to check up on them (Susan Coyne).  This might be a bit too quirky for some people but I found it to be hilarious.  In fact, I laughed out loud multiple times but I was the only one in my screening who did.  The plot is a bit thin and the supporting cast doesn't have much to work with (although Mahaffey steals every scene she is in) but it doesn't matter because the movie belongs to Pfeiffer and she gives a brilliant performance.  She is icy and imperious as she delivers the sharp and witty dialogue but there is also just enough vulnerability under the surface to make an unsympathetic character into a compelling one.  Hedges gives an understated performance that sometimes pales next to Pfeiffer's but the two of them have great chemistry as a mother and son searching for a real connection.  This is the type of movie that I would usually see at my favorite art house theater (which I hope opens soon) and it really appealed to me because it features my particular brand of humor but, as previously mentioned, it might not be for everyone.