La Vie Promise

From the flowers that garland his opening sequence to the moody pop songs that fill the soundtrack, director Olivier Dahan's fourth feature looks and sounds great; it comes as no surprise that his filmography begins with music videos. Sadly, the film's beauty is only skin deep. With her teased hair bleached a cheaper shade of blond and the blue polish chipping off her ragged nails, Sylvia (the seemingly ageless Isabelle Huppert) prowls the back streets of Nice, turning tricks for cash. Having abandoned her husband, Piotr (Andre Macon), after the birth of their son and a stint in a mental hospital, Sylvia has become an expert on shirking responsibility: She also refus...