Look At Me/ Comme Une Image (12A)

Written by Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri, Directed by Agnès Jaoui
Screening at FACT from 19th November – 2nd December 2004

Reviewed by Adam Ford

I find myself very much out on a limb here. Almost every reviewer has lavished extravagant praise on Look At Me, but I think it is badly written and tedious to the point of inducing convulsive yawning fits. Maybe I missed something, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Like so many other young women, Lolita (Marilou Berry) is obsessed with her weight. She struggles in vain for the attention of her father Étienne (Jean-Pierre Bacri), a grouchy writer who only has eyes for his trophy wife and his next royalty cheque. Every time anyone tries to get close to Lolita she thinks it must be because they want to get in with her famous dad. Blah blah blah.

We are meant to empathise with Lolita, but the 'poor poor me' attitude that gradually alienates almost all her potential friends alienated me too. Her father is cold and indifferent towards her, but what would anybody be like if they had to put up with her moaning and sulking 24/7? I'd like to think I’d treat my daughter a bit better than Étienne does, but the call of the word processor and the trophy wife might just prove too loud.