NOT MUCH TO SAY...

...about the boring French musical-romance-comedy LOVE SONGS (**). If the above picture leads you to believe that you're in store for some steamy sexual adventures with two lovely French women and one goofy French dude, well, you'd be about as annoyed as I was while watching this dud. Whereas the similar (but far superior) movie ONCE used its musical conceit to tell a heartfelt and engaging story, filmmaker Christophe Honore stumbles from scene to scene, never fully figuring out what kind of film he set out to make. For whatever reason, the musical interludes didn't resonate; maybe it's because the film is subtitled. I have no problems with foreign films. It's just that when listening to people sing in French, and then having to read the literal translation of the lyrics (which sounded a bit awkward when translated), the entire movie felt artificial. I was never able to get fully connected with the story, which started off promisingly, but never went anywhere particularly surprising or interesting. You get some mild girl-on-girl action in the opening segment, but if you want to see the luscious French actress Ludivine Sagnier in a much better (and sexier) film, rent Francois Ozon's riveting SWIMMING POOL. LOVE SONGS rests on the idea that a couple has invited another woman into their lives and bed. Naturally, many complications ensuse. And then something tragic happens. But I just never cared. There were a handful of good individual scenes but overall, I was disappointed.