Wild Grass

2009 | 104 minutes | Rated PG

The famously oblique French director Alain Resnais (Last Year at Marienbad) won a special award at the Cannes film festival for this existential comedy (2009), whose masterful technique fails to compensate for its glassy characters and mercilessly self-amused tone. The story involves an aging househusband (Andre Dussollier) who stumbles upon the lost wallet of, and falls violently in love with, a prickly dentist (Sabine Azema)—but if you're concerned with story, prepare for some serious eye-rolling from the movie's partisans. Like a flawlessly set table, this is lovely to behold and easily cleared away. With Emmanuelle Devos, Mathieu Amalric, and Anne Consigny. By J.R. Jones

Director: Alain Resnais
Producer: Jean-Louis Livi and Julie Salvador
Cast: André Dussollier, Sabine Azéma, Emmanuelle Devos, Mathieu Amalric, Anne Consigny, Michel Vuillermoz, Édouard Baer, Annie Cordy, Sara Forestier, Nicolas Duvauchelle and Vladimir Consigny