Jan Kounen's adaptation of Frédéric Beigbeder's bestseller has, to put it in wiki lingo, multiple issues. First, it commits the deadly sin of literature adaptations: excessive off-the-screen narration by the main character Octave, an abusive, drug-addicted advertisement creative. There's a lot of plot development which is never on-screen, and the narrator tries to do exactly what he blames the advertisement business for: lead us astray.
That's the second weak point of this film: by following the main character's viewpoint, it invests advertisement with almost god-like power. However, studies in the field (as one's own living experience) do not confirm a definite impact of advertisement on consumer choice. If you are aware of this, and especially if you are a woman, and most especially if you are a homemaker, you may find the constant bickering on the ease of manipulating (female) minds rather off-topic and sexist. To be fair, this irritating aspect is faithful to the novel.
But to conclude with the third and major flaw of the film: the stereotypes don't allow for any social statement. If larger-than-life characters keep dishing it out against society and each other, where is the social comment? And if it's a drama, why not focus on the main events - Octave's falling out with his job and lifestyle, and his incapability to admit his feelings to the only woman he's ever loved? Instead, the viewer is being bombarded with F/X and heavy visual leanings on Spike Jonze, the Coen Brothers and Terry Gilliam, leading more or less nowhere.
The sad thing is: when there's no talk and no abuse, this is actually excellent stuff. A wordless 'alternative ending' really does what the rest of the film was only gibbering about: deliver an accurate summary on how the wish to make one's life less twisted will ultimately remain a (death) wish for the 'civilized' man. More of such imagery, and this would have been a masterpiece.
That's the second weak point of this film: by following the main character's viewpoint, it invests advertisement with almost god-like power. However, studies in the field (as one's own living experience) do not confirm a definite impact of advertisement on consumer choice. If you are aware of this, and especially if you are a woman, and most especially if you are a homemaker, you may find the constant bickering on the ease of manipulating (female) minds rather off-topic and sexist. To be fair, this irritating aspect is faithful to the novel.
But to conclude with the third and major flaw of the film: the stereotypes don't allow for any social statement. If larger-than-life characters keep dishing it out against society and each other, where is the social comment? And if it's a drama, why not focus on the main events - Octave's falling out with his job and lifestyle, and his incapability to admit his feelings to the only woman he's ever loved? Instead, the viewer is being bombarded with F/X and heavy visual leanings on Spike Jonze, the Coen Brothers and Terry Gilliam, leading more or less nowhere.
The sad thing is: when there's no talk and no abuse, this is actually excellent stuff. A wordless 'alternative ending' really does what the rest of the film was only gibbering about: deliver an accurate summary on how the wish to make one's life less twisted will ultimately remain a (death) wish for the 'civilized' man. More of such imagery, and this would have been a masterpiece.