Friends from 'L'Auberge Espagnole' face their 30s
Just as Richard Linklater revisited his strangers-on-a-train Before Sunrise twosome nine years later in Before Sunset, filmmaker Cedric Klapisch has dropped in again on the European gang of his L'Auberge Espagnole - the jolly arthouse hit about a crowd of twentysomethings sharing an apartment in Barcelona, Spain. The new film, Russian Dolls, again centers on Xavier (Romain Duris), a pouting Parisian who ghostwrites biographies and worries that he can't find the girl of his dreams. Audrey Tautou - who could pass as many a man's reverie - returns as Martine, but their relationship is strictly platonic now.
Just as Richard Linklater revisited his strangers-on-a-train Before Sunrise twosome nine years later in Before Sunset, filmmaker Cedric Klapisch has dropped in again on the European gang of his L'Auberge Espagnole - the jolly arthouse hit about a crowd of twentysomethings sharing an apartment in Barcelona, Spain.
The new film, Russian Dolls, again centers on Xavier (Romain Duris), a pouting Parisian who ghostwrites biographies and worries that he can't find the girl of his dreams. Audrey Tautou - who could pass as many a man's reverie - returns as Martine, but their relationship is strictly platonic now.
Five years have passed, and Xavier is en route to St. Petersburg for the wedding of old flat mate William (Kevin Bishop), who has found true love with a Russian ballerina (Evgenia Obraztsova). Klapisch, one of the few directors who gets away with gimmicky things such as split screens, multiple images, and speeded-up film, spins most of his yarn in flashback. William and Natacha's marriage, which reunites the L'Auberge cast in Russia, is reserved for the film's final reel.
Like L'Auberge, the sequel captures Europe's exciting multiculturalism and shrinking borders - the bullet trains and channel crossings that have made the Continent one big playground for the affluent, and the debt-loaded. Xavier - definitely in the latter category - ping-pongs between Paris and London, where he's collaborating on a soap-y telefilm with his English friend Wendy (Kelly Reilly). He dates a Paris salesgirl from Senegal (Aissa Maiga). He heads to Moscow for an ill-advised tryst with a supermodel (Lucy Gordon) whose autobiography he is ghosting.
Russian Dolls isn't quite the gem that its precursor was. It rambles. It's less of an ensemble effort. There's more of Xavier's moping self-centeredness. But Duris is terrific as the confused cusp-of-30 protagonist, and the rest of the cast is bright and beaming.
Contact movie critic Steven Rea at 215-854-5629 or srea@phillynews.com. Read his recent work at http://go.philly. com/stevenrea.
Russian Dolls *** (out of four stars)
Written and directed by Cedric Klapisch. With Romain Duris, Audrey Tautou, Kelly Reilly and others. In French with subtitles. Also in Russian with subtitles, and in English.
Running time: 2 hours, 9 mins.
Parent's guide: No MPAA rating (nudity, sex, profanity, drugs, adult themes)
Playing at: Roxy Theater and Clearview Bala.