The Bridesmaid (2004/First Run/Claude Chabrol)
Picture: C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Film: C+
Claude
Chabrol continues his ways as a sort of latter-day Hitchcock, though I cannot
name one of his films that good, with The
Bridesmaid (2004). This is the
familiar story of one illicit lover trying to get another to commit is risky
crime (robbery, murder, etc.) and what the fallout will be. There is little suspense here, but to make
things odder, it is based on a novel by Ruth Rendell.
Besides
covering previous Chabrol material, we have covered two box sets worth of
Rendell work from TV. One had a lead
detective, the other an anthology of various stories. The common denominator between all three now
apparent is that Rendell’s work has done the miraculously annoying thing of
taking detective mystery fiction and making it as flat and formulaic as police
procedural clichés, even when a detective is not around!
The
result here is a combination of like minds and approaches that ultimately lead
to a predictable, stylish, muddy and even erotic at times (the part that kept
us from falling asleep in this case) film that never delivers, amounting to
more style than substance. For both
writer and director, the title lives up to that old adage, always a bridesmaid…
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 is a little softer than a recent film ought to
be, but color is consistent and depth is not bad. The Dolby Digital French 2.0 Stereo has no
major surrounds, but is clean and clear.
Extras include text bio/filmographies, Chabrol interview, making of
featurette, stills and trailers for other First Run releases.
- Nicholas Sheffo
