Critiquing the film..

Okay, here are my criticisms of the movie:

1. Too long - the love scenes towards the end were unnecessary & inappropriate because they really didn't push the movie forward. It was more like a one night stand type of plot filler. In other words, it didn't really add anything of value to the movie. Simply because she didn't stay with the guy, so there wasn't really any point in that scene.

Other scenes that were filler should've been edited. For instance, the whole scene where they did the movie scene w/her new writing friends & she explodes @ them.

Another scene that was unnecessary was Violette's mom & her mother's husband having sex. I mean really? This movie is about Violette NOT her mom.

Her mom was a minor character.

There were other scenes that could've been left out. Like the scene where has a mental breakdown & goes to the hospital. That could've been left out & simply mentioned.

It just seemed too long and drawn out. I mean it was a 2 hour and 36 minute movie that could've been edited down ALOT to an 1 hr and 20 minutes or 30 minutes even.

2. They spoke TOO FAST. It's hard to read the subtitles AND watch the action; unless, you're a native French speaker, or can speak fluent French & don't need subtitles to get what they're saying.

3. The nudity. It was unnecessary. I mean the naked woman in the bathroom that just POPS OUT OF NOWHERE when Violette is talking to that guy @ his apartment & he encourages her to keep writing & then suddenly, out of left field, a naked woman is flashed across the screen in the bathroom that's completely IRRELEVANT to the story!   Talk about just adding a nude scene for gratuitous reasons.

Additionally, the naked scenes of her bathing. Do we really need to see her naked taking a bath in a tub of water? NO. ANOTHER pointless scene that just added time to the clock.

Finally, the scene where she's flashing her boobs while she's having sex with that guy she doesn't even know. I mean, HELLO?! Ever heard of STDs? Who knows who that guy's slept with! If he's willing to sleep with a complete stranger he LITERALLY just met a few minutes ago in the French countryside, then I'd start wondering if he didn't have STDs or how clean he REALLY is! 

Take out some of the scenes that were just BORING, make the movie MUCH SHORTER, have the characters speak MORE SLOWLY and get rid of the nudity altogether, and you have a GREAT FILM! 

I rated it a 10 on account of the fact that Violette's character is realistic, and you can identify with her struggles as she tries to find her place in this world.

She's vulnerable and freely expressive with her emotions.

Some of the dialogue was DEFINITELY worth noting such as the part where's she told to just WRITE and writing will allow her to be successful in life and get her mind off her problems. In other words, writing is what's going to be the key to her happiness & making something out of her life that she's desperately seeking and lacking. Furthermore, being encouraged throughout the movie to just WRITE.

In real life, she did overcome her obstacles. She became a successful writer, major goal of hers.

Happy Valentine's Day!