Romance (1999)

ROMANCE is an unrated-and-with-a-reason French drama about a woman 
in love with a man who won't have intercourse with her.  They stay 
together, sleep together, and, yet in bed, he's all hands-off.  (He 
is either unwilling or unable to rise to the occasion...)  So, she 
decides to start sleazing and embarks on a series of self-shaming 
encounters, the worst of which results in a rape.  Bitter it is, 
butt-numbing it's also, with far more psych than sex.  At least it 
gets a watchability boost on the full-frontal front.  We're shown 
pee-pees and woo-woos and real, live, please refrain from snicker-
ing genital contact between the actors.  No "money shots," mind 
you, but enough organ-ization to surprise the unsuspecting viewer.  
(Go ahead, take your parents.)  For those already in the know and 
attending in disguise, don't expect a high Titillation Factor (TF).  
It's all very clinically detached, as is embodied in a later scene 
involving a room full of aspiring obstetricians.  Just another day 
at the orifice?  Sorry...  Catherine Breillat directs.

Grade: C

Copyright 1999 Michael J. Legeros
Movie Hell is a trademark of Michael J. Legeros

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