Impromptu

Starring:Judy Davis, Hugh Grant, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Julian Sands, Ralph Brown, Georges Corraface, Anton Rodgers, Emma Thompson, Anna Massey, David Birkin (II), Nimer Rashed, Fiona Vincente, John Savident, Lucy Speed, Elizabeth Spriggs, Jezabelle Amato, Claude Berthy, AndrÃ© Chaumeau, Nicholas Hawtrey
Director: James Lapine
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Still more Victorian country-house shenanigans: novelist George Sand (Judy Davis, affected but pretty darn charming) has eyes for Franz Liszt's young protégé Chopin (Hugh Grant, solid as always, but burdened by a silly Polish accent and a script that never lets him stretch out), but various lovers, jealous rivals, and Chopin's own overdeveloped sense of propriety conspire to confound her. Impromptu is witty but overlong--probably 20 minutes of hijinks and repartee, not to mention several completely gratuitous and redundant characters, could have been sliced from the film. Davis plays Sand as an impetuous, overgrown tomboy, outraging her genteel hosts by wearing pants, chomping cigars, and falling off horses; her coterie of artist-friends assure us, in a series of naked plot devices, that she nonetheless has a heart of gold. It's all good silly fun, and about as feminist as your average Def Leppard video--the other two developed female characters are ugly stereotypes: a featherbrained, feckless social climber (Emma Thompson, who once again proves she's up for anything) and a spiteful, back-stabbing shrew (the ever-capable Bernadette Peters). Director James Lapine clearly belongs to the Dr. Quinn school of historical accuracy, so don't expect to learn anything about the period or the artists themselves. Impromptu is far more Melrose Place than Mrs. Dalloway, or perhaps best described as an episode of Entertainment Tonight set in the 19th century. --Miles Bethany

Customer Reviews:

Thre is no double standard for George Sand.......2006-09-04

James Lapine is best known as a playwright and director. He is most famous for his collaborations with Stephen Sondheim including Sunday in the Park with George, Passion and Into the Woods. He brings this talent to the big screen.

George Sand was a great French writer. Since society thought that women should be subservient housewives, George wanted to fly in the face of society. She wrote under a man's name and dressed like a man. She treated men as playthings. Therefore, she was the scandal and titillation of Paris.

That is until she is introduced to the shy Polish composer Frederic Chopin. When she hears his music, she becomes enchanted with him. But Frederic wants nothing to do with such a notorious woman. So George decides to give Frederic a woman that he wants.

This is a brilliant romantic comedy with a cast of up and coming actors. Judy Davis has always chosen interesting role from her early Australian films to her television roles. This is another great meaty role for Judy and she eats it up. Hugh Grant was a relative unknown when this film was made but this film would be the first of the quintessential Hugh Grant characters. In supporting roles are Lapine regulars Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin. Also in the film are early roles by Emma Thompson and Julian Sands.

If you are looking for something witty and intelligent, Impromptu is definitely the film to watch.

DVD EXTRAS: NONE

Excellent, Entertaining Satire.......2006-08-28

I would unreservedly rate Impromptu five out of five after two viewings, the reason being it's the most successful period drama I've watched that combines history and farce in a most effectively entertaining manner.

Each of the main characters (practically everyone has a distinct voice) are imbued with nothing short of humour and definitive caricature - a steadfast George Sand, a neurotic Chopin, an irreverant Musset, a virile Delacroix, a hyperbolic, quietly intellectual and mild Liszt, a haughty, spiteful and duplicitous Marie D'Agoult and a hysterical Countess who has been so effectively parodied as the patron of minor talents but huge inheritance.

As with countless of historical dramas, Impromptu has not been spared a degree of measurement with regards to historical accuracy. I feel that a certain dispense from the facts is acceptable, so far as they remain relevant, and conducive to the development of the story and in this case, the humour.

Emma Thompson has proven time and again, her mastery of period drama and her multi-faceted talents.

Judy Davis and Bernadette Peters are truly brilliant and entertaining in their convincing and riveting portrayals of Sand (whom you love to emphatize with) and D'Agoult (whom you love to hate), eventually placed at loggerheads.

The DVD also comes with a French voice-over not found in many films of French background filmed in English. The dialogue is much more hilarious than the original in English! (especially with George Sand and Marie D'Agoult's parts)... A boon for viewers who wish to improve on their non-native language.

The soundtracks are strung together in a most admirable fashion, beginning most lightheartedly with Chopin's fleeting-paced but good-natured Impromptu in A flat, the theme of Sand's "romantic calling" in Chopin's first Ballade and the Fantasie-Impromptu near to the end of the film, which should be familiar to almost any viewer.

Lush orchestrations have been "mixed" in certain parts with the original solo piano excerpts to enhance the dramatic flow. Musical purists need not be overly concerned with this mild cosmetic effect.

Overall, it is a film I would recommend without hesitation to lovers of classical music, historical drama and comedy.

ho hum.......2006-08-10

Feels like a stage play -- and not a very good one -- a stage play with the stilted dialogue and lack of action that plague that genre. Hugh Grant, the biggest star at the center of this film, is vulnerable and feminine, and the rest of the cast arranges itself around him. So far so good.

But really in the final analysis, this is not the most compelling film in any category in which it might offer itself. Historically, it's a bit off (the youngsters hitting their palms together "YES" telegraphs the extent to which this is not a well researched historical film); the "art for art's sake" message is way too heavy-handed; the script, the cast, the cinematography, the music -- all of it feels way too choreographed. I could have passed this one up with no disadvantage to myself or my sensibility.

Wickedly halarious!.......2006-03-17

What fun! What fun! It is delightful to see such a refreshingly witty and playful film. Judy Davis is wonderful as the tomboyish George Sand (though slightly over the top at times) and gives the role quite a bit of depth and comedy. Hugh Grant plays her quarry, Fredrick Chopin, and even dons a wavering accent for the part. The cake, however, is taken by Emma Thompson here in her before-stardom days. She plays a culturally deprived Countess who invites the geniuses of the day to her country home where many of the madcap endeavors take place. Her performance alone makes this film worth watching.

The setting is France in its most romantic years, where George Sand scandalized the towns by her illicit love affairs, one after the other. An obstacle is met, however, in the frail form of Chopin, whose music she first heard and fell in love with. The fortunes are against the pair, mostly in the form of her devious friend Marie who actually wants Chopin for herself. Her numerous broken relationships with previous lovers get a bit annoying and dull at times but the rest of the film makes up for it.

A scene I particularly enjoyed was the farce-play put on by the 'geniuses' that positively humiliates their hosts and accuses them of being 'stupid'. It's so halarious watching Emma Thompson's face falling bit by bit as she realizes the play is actually about her.

All in all, a film worth watching, and, while it is not meticulously-crafted, is still great fun for the performances and sheer comedic power. This is will have you in stitches many times throughout.

Art does not apologize!.......2006-03-13

British period pieces all carry the same themes. Two kindred hearts fight either for or against each other throughout the entire film until finally one succumbs and we are left with the cliché "happy" ending. The story behind Impromptu is no different, but what makes it a bit more enjoyable than your typical film of this genre is the wiry excitement of the cast. In other films you may find yourself struggling to stay awake with the blandish of characters, hoping that sleep with not christen you into the ending, but not in Impromptu. Director James Lapine has amazingly gathered a very talented cast of actors/actresses like Hugh Grant, Mandy Patinkin, and Emma Thompson, to carry his film, but what shames me to say is that it does not create cinematic perfection. These actors/actresses all have talent in which they demonstrate accordingly in this film, but (cause there is always a but...) by the end you feel as if you missed their greatest of scenes. You feel as if you have been cheated out of their greatest potential. This realization is formed by the film's shabby editing, it's misleading story, its emotional-less connection of characters, or the randomness of the ending. Either way, even with the greatest players having fun with their roles, Impromptu slowly flushes itself down the period-piece toilet because it focuses itself to greatly on the actors while sinking the rest of the story.

To begin, as I mentioned before, the greatness of the actors giving nearly 100% to their characters is a charm that is missed in so many other period piece films. Impromptu kept me awake and excited about what would happen next entirely due to the characters. Some may laugh at the portrayal of Chopin by Hugh Grant, but he contains himself well and shows that he may have some acting "chops" under that flopsy hair of his (even with his fading German accent). Emma Thompson is hysterical as the dimwitted hostess, while Mandy Patinkin's Jiminy Cricket-esque character Alfred De Musset definitely needed more screen time. Judy Davis did well with her character, I just have trouble with her "I need to win an Oscar with every role" type performance that Davis is notorious for giving us with every film. The only actress that I despised throughout the film was Bernadette Peters' role. Peters is a decent actress and has proven that she can handle some heavy performances, but her role as the "evil" friend in this film was extremely out of her league. You cannot portray "corruption" in Peters' eyes; it is just physically impossible. When all of these actors are together on screen, especially during their sinister performance at Thompson's house, one cannot help but be pulled into their world. Excitement, humor, and an aura of charisma surround these characters, alas; it is what Lapine did with the rest of the film that utterly destroys it.

Sarah Kernochan's story is not what is lacking when you examine Impromptu's problems. She has amazing characters, funny situations, and socially challenged themes; it is the direction of Lapine that internally destroys the film. The movement between the characters and situations were flawed because Lapine couldn't quite grasp the quickness of this film. From the beginning it is established that these are some of the greatest minds in British history together on screen, so why did we have to pace through the film as if they were also the oldest characters in history. There were times when I felt that Lapine saw the odd pacing of the story and told his actors to speed it up on screen. This only caused more of an issue because you cannot ask the characters/actors to carry the film on their own; they need a dedicated story to complete it. Then, when Lapine tried to counter by focusing a bit stronger on the story, he lost his characters and we, as audience members, missed out on possibly some great moments with our actors. Impromptu eventually became a big battle of tug-of-war, where on one side the actors (doing a great job) were pulling the film, and on the other side was Lapine pulling, trying to decipher how to correctly balance the pacing and story of this genre. While this was interesting to watch on screen, by the end of the film it is obvious that the film missed huge chunks of opportunity. Characters moved without reason, bonds were illogically formed, and hatred was built upon mismatched moments. It was utter and total chaos.

What I am most disappointed about with this film was the lack of development towards the social oddities that surrounded our characters. Here we have the amazing opportunity to witness a great author and the rarity of cross-dressing. In this film we had the opportunity to develop why a powerful painter only drew dead animals. In this film we had the opportunity to explain the passion of love, the morbid curiosity of death, and the duels that combine the two. How about the opportunity to see the competition between Liszt and Chopin? There were so many opportunities just lying on the floor, that by the end of this film I felt like Lapine cheated me out of so much opportunity. Earlier I mentioned my concern about missing out on our characters because Lapine was struggling too hard with the story, it is these opportunities that I believe hurt us the most. I was angry that we had such strong characters, amazing actors, yet no excitement in developing them. This was just another heartache in the Lapine "Hall of Shame".

Overall, as a character film, Impromptu was fabulous. If you would like to see the crème de la crème of British cinema doing their best, then this is the film for you. On the flip side, if you would like to see a director's talent train wreck the entire picture, then Impromptu is also your film. Typically, as a critic you find yourself upset with the actors, the mushy themes, or the ominous lacking of direction, for Impromptu, the latter would best describe the failures. Lapine bit off more than he could chew and thankfully had strong actors to pick up the slack. Sadly, that couldn't save this sinking ship. Lapine had so much potential with Kernochan's story that I do not think he did his homework well enough. Impromptu could have been a darkly entertaining story that could have evoked historical conversation, but instead left most of us scouring the streets looking for anything to latch onto. I will adamantly maintain that it was due to Lapine's horrid direction that this film failed to ever take off into mainstream cinema.

Grade: ** out of *****

The Great Composers: Franz Schubert [DVD + 2 CDs]

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The Great Composers: Franz Schubert [DVD + 2 CDs]

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Release Date: 2007-06-12

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