Review of Stolen Kisses

This is an odd movie--not bad, but rather odd. The main character is a bit of a bumbler that seems to screw up most jobs. He manages to get thrown out of the army, lose the job as a doorman as well as that of a private detective. Along the way, he stops to have sex with a couple prostitutes and the wife of one of his clients while working as the detective. Apart from that, as the film begins his obsessive love for his girlfriend, though she seems a bit cold. Later, their feelings for each other seem to flip-flop. At the end, they both seem to have about equally strong feelings about each other--when a strange man comes out of nowhere for the movie's punchline. Does all this sound like a comedy? Well, while it has some mildly humorous moments, I didn't think it was particularly funny and the story just seemed to be lacking a certain something. I kept waiting for it to get better and to have more of a point, but to no avail.

While I really like foreign films, I sometimes am frustrated by the incredibly unfinished style many "great" films possess. While this makes them different from boring and conventional Hollywood fare, sometimes I feel annoyed at what, to me, seems like sloppy writing or the refusal to hire and utilize an editor. I know this all makes me sound like a real nut, but some of Truffaut's movies could use a good editing or re-write--such as this one, Mississippi Mermaid and Confidentially Yours. Others, such as The Wild Child, The Story of Adele H., The Last Metro and Shoot The Pianist, seem much tighter and cohesive.