Don't be fooled by the Merchant-Ivory tag - - this horrendous Europudding is an abomination from start to finish. Executive produced by Ismail Merchant, it's the preposterous story of American opera diva Elisabeth Beaumont (Dianne Wiest), whose gay French son (Stanislas Merhar) sees his estranged dad (Simon Callow) stabbed by a rent boy. Elisabeth thinks her son is responsible so covers up the crime, setting in motion a ghastly mess involving a lesbian director (Bulle Ogier), Jerry Hall and a lunatic actress (Jane Birkin) with an unhealthy Vanessa Redgrave fetish.
""You must learn to curb your narcissism!"" simpers Birkin, but self-love is the least of this movie's problems. Writer/director Andrew Litvack clearly confuses high camp for high style, saddling his cast with stilted dialogue and encouraging them to make total fools of themselves. The only positive is that this Paris-based caper makes Merchant-Ivory's last effort, Le Divorce, look like a masterpiece in comparison.
