A Girl Cut in Two

Lifeless and disjointed, A Girl Cut in Two is a typically slow-moving and overly talky French drama that possesses few traits designed to hold the viewer’s interest for more than a few minutes at a time. The thin, egregiously plain storyline follows an up-and-coming weather girl (Ludivine Sagnier’s Gabrielle) as she finds herself falling for a much older man (François Berléand’s Charles) – much to the chagrin of a suitor her own age, the spoiled heir to a pharmaceutical fortune (Benoît Magimel’s Paul). Directed by Claude Chabrol, A Girl Cut in Two does hold some promise in its early scenes – as the filmmaker effectively establishes these fairly interesting characters and their admittedly melodramatic crises. But Chabrol and co-writer Cécile Maistre’s reluctance to spell out just what it is that Gabrielle sees in Charles, given that she essentially becomes obsessed with the man, single-handedly assures the film’s downfall. The inclusion of a few admittedly unexpected third-act twists notwithstanding, A Girl Cut in Two is nothing less than an entirely forgettable piece of work and it’s ultimately impossible not to wonder what a master like Chabrol saw in this hopelessly stale material.

*1/2 out of ****