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Venus Beauty Institute (2000)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:23
Fresh:13
Rotten:10
Average Rating:6.2/10
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
US Box Office: $0
Synopsis: It's Christmas in Paris, and three employees of a popular beauty parlor are each looking for for a way out of loneliness, while Madame Nadine (Bulle Ogier), the boss, tries to keep her staff in... It's Christmas in Paris, and three employees of a popular beauty parlor are each looking for for a way out of loneliness, while Madame Nadine (Bulle Ogier), the boss, tries to keep her staff in check. Angele (Natalie Baye), is a single, middle-aged woman reluctant to discard her youth. Samantha (Mathilde Seigner) is in a hurry to grow up fast. And Marie (Audrey Tautou) is a young, naive beauty discovering passion for the first time. The main story centers on Angele, who by night prefers crash-and-burn affairs to the risk of losing love one more time. But when a stranger, Antoine (Samuel Le Bihan) approaches her to profess his undying love, Angele is unsure whether it's a blessing or a curse. Nearly half her age and engaged to a beautiful young woman, he seems too eager to win her affection. However, she slowly realizes that her time is running out, and she is forced to decide between solitude and trust. On one level a soap opera about fleeting romance, VENUS is also a humorous jab at society's fixation with youth and beauty at the expense of everything else. [More]
Starring: Nathalie Baye, Bulle Ogier, Audrey Tautou, Jacques Bonnaffe
Starring: Nathalie Baye, Bulle Ogier, Audrey Tautou, Jacques Bonnaffe, Robert Hossein, Claire Nebout, Micheline Presle, Emmanuelle Riva, Samuel Le Bihan, Elli Medeiros, Claude Jade, Mathilde Seigner
Director: Tonie Marshall
Director: Tonie Marshall
Screenwriter: Tonie Marshall, Marion Vernoux, Jacques Audiard
Reviews for Venus Beauty Institute
While almost aggressively French in tone and style, nonetheless an affecting, if fragile and flawed, meditation on the realities of romance and aging.
Tonie Marshall's captured the tender yearnings, wistful aches, and the sticky confrontation of aging far better than even Estee Lauder could.
It's not as if Baye's not great at displaying relationship disfunctionality, it's just that you can only thump the pillow so many times before it gets old.
Director Tonie Marshall turns in a lightweight, enjoyable film where love wins out over all.
My biggest problem with Venus Beauty Institute is the mixed messages that it sends.
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