Young & Beautiful (2014)

Wow! Such a good movie.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

A seemingly typical 17 year old girl, Isabelle, begins secretly selling her body to successful older men. This film is insightful and honest, without giving judgment and due to unexpected turns, we find ourselves wondering why she does what she does. Francois Ozon's Young and Beautiful portrays a young girl, Isabelle, (Marine Vacth) exploring her sexuality through prostitution after losing her virginity in a seemingly unpleasant manner. Her attitude towards these sexual encounters is very emotionless and distant. We first meet Isabelle during vacation just before her 17th birthday where she loses her virginity to a German boy, Felix. While his body is on top of hers, we see the look in Isabelle's eyes turn detached and cold. The next scene, we find that the family has returned to their home in the city. By this time she has begun meeting clients online and meeting in elegant hotel rooms, always arriving in a nice suit, but returning home in her school clothes. She has many encounters with rich older men, some of which could be old enough to be her grandfather. These encounters seem very displeasing to her. During these encounters, she seems disinterested in the money as well as the sexual act itself. She meets Georges (Johan Leysen) and her attitude towards the situation remains the same, yet we find that her encounters with him begin to change after a while. Georges takes an interest in her and we get the feeling that he genuinely cares for her. They meet often and her attitude towards the sexual acts remains basically the same, yet she becomes more comfortable during their encounters. In an unexpected turn of events, Isabelle's secret is found out by her family and they are very surprised as well as confused by her actions. She goes to see a therapist to hopefully get some insight on why she has been selling her body to these men. Like many French films, the movie leaves you wondering what happens after the ending scene. The scene when Isabelle's mother (Geraldine Pailhas) has found out and is discussing this with her daughter for the first time is very emotional. In this scene we feel the distress and confusion as well as anger from her mother towards her daughter's actions. Her mother's reaction may seem extreme, but it shows how she is hurting because of Isabelle's trysts and possibly because she sees herself in the same way that she is ridiculing Isabelle. This is one of the ways that this film shows the struggles of a family. While most families don't deal with prostitution, they have their own sins to deal with. During this confrontation, we feel pain and violence as well as love. I would recommend this film to young adults as well as older adults. Isabelle is a young and beautiful girl who comes from a stable family. We see a number of occasions when Isabelle seems almost accepting of her clients degrading comments. At times it feels as though she believes that this is her self-worth and is deserving of this. Isabelle is disinterested in the money she receives from the clients and the sexual act itself and she is called a whore. So why does she sell herself to these men then? That is one of the beauties of this film. The film goes to show one of life's greatest truths, that not everything has a clear cut answer.

As truly beautiful as she might be, it is not enough just to watch her on screen for ninety-five minutes, looking forlorn and pretty much totally bored.. (as were most all of us) for most of the entire time. With a better script and directing, it maybe would have amounted to something more than just a gorgeous teenager working as a high-end call girl. She does appear to have the acting talent (along with that amazing allure), but it'll have to be proved in another work. The rest of the cast is solid, and production values are good. It all boils down to a very thin storyline, with the one big question that never really gets close to being answered. Otherwise, a good portion of beautiful females out there would be selling themselves for no particular reason.

Isabelle is on a family beach holiday in the south of France. Her father is long gone with his own young family in Italy. She is about to turn 17. She loses her virginity to hunky Felix but it's not as great as she expected. A few months later, she's working as a high class call girl claiming to be 20 year old Lea. Her elderly client Georges dies from a heart attack during sex. She leaves him behind. Later, the police contacts her mother after tracking her down.Marine Vacth is playing a cool aloof hot girl. I'm not sure if she's the next great thing. She doesn't do much more than be that young and confused girl. She is giving a limited acting range. Director and writer François Ozon delivers a paper thin plot. It doesn't give much insight into Isabelle's inner thoughts. There are no simplistic answers. It basically gives no answers. It has a nice cameo at the end but it doesn't use it to full advantage either.

This film is quite beautiful in more than one way. It weirdly reminds me of what Marilyn Manson said when interviewed in "Bowling For Columbine", when Michael Moore asked him what he'd say to the kids at Columbine or the people in that community: "I wouldn't say a single word to them. I would listen to what they have to say, and that's what no one did."Isabelle is the lead character in this film and as such, she leads. But not as much by talking constantly or doing a lot of extravagant stuff, as in most Hollywood-esque films; of course, Ozon's films aren't really Hollywood, thank Bog.She does as she pleases, and we're left to ponder her inner life, which is not spelled out to us. Her family life is interesting, especially where her mother and brother are concerned. Speaking of which, most of her relations with other people are interesting and her "reactions" to them left me interested a little longer.The scene where the bridge-with-the-locks is, to me, the least interesting and left a schmaltzy and redundant impression, yet all in all, the film works. Not one of Ozon's best, but definitely not one of his worst, and compared with other directors' works, this is a vital shot in the arm.