Too much of everything

Excellent but underrated film

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Part David Halsmanns Diary, part Alphaville and part Contempt, Roman Coppola's debut feature is a light, caring homage to the cinema of the 1960's.Everything from the sets, costumes, music, even the detail gone into the film within a film "Dragonfly" captured the era perfectly. Performances by the entire cast were spot on. Giancarlo Giannini as the old school producer who can never decide how many films he has made to Gérard Depardieu's as the director whose films have to have soul and not sell out.Biggest credit must go to Roman for choosing Jeremy Davies to play the lead, as I was constantly intrigued how a creative character like his would finish his journey in this film. Giancarlo Giannini's as the producer even mentioned "The most important part of a film is the ending, this is the last thing the audience will remember when they leave the cinema!"An important statement as Jeremy Davies goes on to finish his major film as Gérard Depardieu intended and he also got to finish his personnel film, where he discovered a lot about himself through the truth of cinema. The most enjoyable film from all the brood of Francis Ford Coppola.

I thought that Elodie Bouchez's character is like the soul of movie, but what topped it off was the really enjoyable and ingenious portrayal of the filmmaker's ego. Very funny, establishing that certain look in the sort of spirit of wes Anderson's creations, but different, more romantic and "cool". It's definitely memorable, beautiful girls are always worth the while to film, it's sort of a homage to those sixtie's classy action chicks, which works more in terms of aesthetic enjoyment rather than character development, nevertheless it was a great goal to for, and adds a lot of cuteness to the texture of the film. Another texture of the film was the whole Paris 60's modern romance look, and the transitions to Rome proved that R.Coppola's sense of structure is pretty assuring in addition to his glamorous and lovable film sense.

Watching the trailer for this movie, I couldn't help but feel excited.Look at all the swank 60's spy movie references!Well ... this wasn't the movie I'd hoped for. I believe that "CQ" is Roman Coppola's (son of famous Francis Ford Coppola) first feature-length movie. And I suppose that all first-time directors flail and hick-up in their first (hell, even second and third) films.But Coppola very blatantly tries to conceal all his director and writer disabilities by shrouding the film with 60's pop-culture trivia ... something that I'm sure his "hipster" handbook directed him to do.The premise involves an American attempting to edit a ridiculously avant-gard sci-fi/spy Modesty Blaise-esque movie in Paris ... while in his personal time he whines and moans about how he isn't adept enough to sustain a meaningful relationship ... all this through the eyes of a camera. And whilst he records his day-to-day life on film ... he neglects his stunning french girlfriend.So ... our young American in Paris ends up taking the reigns of the spy movie and plenty of hijinx ensue.It isn't hard to predict how the movie will end. And if you wait around long enough and can somehow see past Coppola's bloated, pretentious and pedestrian writing and direction ... then you'll have earned a shining ticket to complain about how great this movie COULD have been.And people wonder why nobody remembers (or wants to remember) this movie. Chalk it all up to the futile attempts of a son of a great director to become more than his father.Remember ... even old Francis Ford had to LEARN filmmaking. Anyone ever see "Dementia 13?" It wasn't a HORRIBLE movie ... but then again ... it wasn't "Apocalypse Now," either.Roman's sister, Sophia Coppola has done so interesting work. If anyone inherited Francis Ford's filmmaking genes ... my guess is that it's her. "The Virgin Suicides" is a really excellent movie. "Lost in Translation" wasn't bad either.So ... Roman ... keep on making those music videos. Your video for "The Strokes" was painfully dull ... but it was a little easier for me to switch channels.

Roman Coppola has worked on his father's films since he was a teenager, doing sound on The Outsiders and directing the second unit and special effects for Bram Stoker's Dracula. CQ is his feature film debut, although he is already well known for directing music videos. The action takes place in Paris in 1968 and involves a character named Paul, an idealistic American film student who ends up directing a sci-fi b-movie. CQ is an incredibly layered and stylistic film, maybe too much so. There are two films within the film, and Coppola cuts back and forth randomly, using Paul's cinema verite black and white experimental film to provide the emotional core of the story, while the science fiction film propels the action. It's a valiant try, and while it's not completely successful, I really liked CQ. Coppola has nailed the time and place perfectly – Paris in 1968 looks like the hippest spot on earth – coaxed good performances from his actors and put together a soundtrack that actually adds to the movie, rather than just support it.