The thread connecting the ambitious girl to the acclaimed woman is enough to make us wish for a sequel titled Chanel No. 2.
Comment
11/05/09
Coco Before Chanel (2009)
65
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:112
Fresh:73
Rotten:39
Average Rating:6.1/10
Consensus: Though it doesn't quite capture the complexity of its subject's life, Coco Avant Chanel remains a fascinating, appropriately lovely tribute.
Australian Theatrical Release:
Jun 25, 2009 Wide
US Box Office: $5,288,153
Synopsis: Coco Before Chanel is the story of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, who began her life as headstrong orphan, and through an extraordinary journey became the legendary couturier who embodied the modern... [More]
Starring: Audrey Tautou, Benoit Poelvoorde, Alessandro Nivola, Marie Gillain
Director: Anne Fontaine
Reviews for Coco Before Chanel
Fontaine manages to create a film that captures both the essence of its subject and the times and circumstances that helped to shape her.
11/04/09
[T]here's a anesthetized feel to this sedate biopic that suggests a wrongheadedness in its focus: maybe the more interesting part of her life was after she became the icon of fashion...
11/03/09
As essayed by Audrey Tautou through Anne Fontaine's lens, this Chanel is dry as toast and the antithesis of her sensual sartorial creations.
11/03/09
A bit more of Coco becoming Chanel was what I expected, and what would have elevated this film beyond the typical period-piece love story fare.
10/31/09
In Coco Before Chanel, Audrey Tautou coolly charms as the designer in her formative years. On a scale of 8, the film is a Chanel #5.
10/29/09
Like the recently opened Amelia, the story could well be an accurate depiction of Chanel's life but it, too, is not all that engaging.
10/29/09
The film is unfailingly funny.
10/23/09
Coco Before Chanel only starts to get interesting when she asserts her creative and financial freedom -- and that's right when the movie's about to end.
10/23/09
We are used to seeing Tautou play the sweetheart. Here, she's anything but. Constantly smoking, dour, unsmiling, critical, she plays a character difficult to warm to but fascinating to watch.
10/23/09
Audrey Tatou may have been born to play Coco Chanel ...
10/23/09
It's nice when so many technical and emotional elements come together in a film. Coco Before Chanel is a hard luck, true life fairy tale story told with poignant humility, embellished with solid acting and determined direction.
10/23/09
Tautou is, as ever, radiant and deep and affecting, but a film about such an extraordinary personage as Chanel shouldn’t feel so ordinary and wan.
10/23/09
Although technically a biopic based on a nonfiction book by Edmonde Charles-Roux, Coco Before Chanel plays more like an engrossing, classy period piece.
10/22/09
This refreshing alternative to the usual potted biopic provides an absorbing look at a singular, steely determination as it was forged and annealed, long before it made itself known to the world.
10/16/09
Top CriticTautou's sophisticated portrayal won't allow viewers to dismiss Coco as kept. Coco's talents are too pronounced, her approach to intimacy, to life, too aware for that.
10/16/09
I wish Fontaine would follow up with a sequel: Coco After Chanel. Tautou's performance cries out for a second act.
10/16/09
The movie is most fascinating when it shows how Chanel communicated her enlightened sense of womanhood through her innovative designs, which in turn helped women feel differently about themselves.
10/16/09
It’s a perfectly nice period piece and biographical backgrounder, but the film feels as though it’s a meal of tasty side dishes that lacks a main course.
10/16/09
Parental Content Review
10/15/09
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