Vick's Picks for August

Vick's Picks
by Vick Silkenpen

Violette: Even if you are not familiar with the seminal written works of Violette Leduc (In the Prison of her Skin, The Bastard) this biographical portrait version of her life presented by Martin Provost draws you ever toward it. At first we see Violette's (Emmanuelle Devos) involvement in the black market as she makes her way in occupied France during WWII and afterwards.

We watch with a bit of repulsion mixed inexplicably with empathy as Leduc clings first to writer Maurice Sachs and eventually to writing icon Simone de Beauvoir. Every boho friend, literary celebrity, and rich patron she hangs with up through her rise in intellectual circles end their conversations by encouraging her to not tell them about her considerable misery and love problems but to just keep writing and put all of her tangled emotions in those works.

What we observe is Leduc's incredible will to do exactly that and in the process she transfigures it all into a truthful feminist voice which makes her lasting mark over an amazing arc of time. The film demonstrates clearly that art can be costly and mess with the artist as well as others. 

Grace & Frankie: This Netflix series seems like a sure bet when you consider the seasoned cast interacting with an amusing plot. Jane Fonda as Grace is the retired and established cosmetics executive, Lily Tomlin as Frankie is the art teacher who is still a hippie in the heart, Sam Waterston as Sol is Frankie's divorce lawyer husband, and Martin Sheen as Robert is Grace's divorce lawyer husband.

In the first episode at a dinner night out with their wives, Sol and Robert reveal they are more than partners in law - they are also in love with each other and wish to start a newer sort of partnership: leaving their wives for each other. This forces Grace and Frankie into a living situation with each other at a shared beach home and Odd Couplesque situations arise. 

At times the acting can be a bit stiff and sit-commie  and at some points you can even hear a slight whistle from dental work in Fonda's lines. By the time about half of the first season is viewed you'll notice Fonda and Tomlin do find just the right acting chemistry. It all gets interesting as the children, family and friends enter the mix. 

The Gayly – August 21, 2015 @ 11:25am.