La vida prometida

Like a lot of contemporary French cinema, this film doesn't lack ideas, however, the execution and finished product sometimes make no sense, or illuminate the story. It's not for a lack of styles that Olivier Dahan can be blamed on what we are seeing. He has a lot of different methods about how he wants to present them, but it only adds to the confusion, as things happen unexpectedly. He never bothers to explain why they got that way.

First of all, it is very strange that Sylvia's teen age daughter, Laurence, suddenly pops up in her mother's life. Sylvia could not care less about the girl. The accidental killing of one of Sylvia's pimps, make mother and daughter flee the scene of the crime and take to the back roads of Southern France. This is a case where crime, even if involuntary, does pay. The end of the story feels false, as we watch the three principals going into the sunset. Could this trio have found the secret for happiness? Stay tuned, or better yet, smell the flowers!

The acting is fine. Isabelle Huppert shows her usual intensity and is convincing as the prostitute. Maud Forget, as the teen age daughter does her part well and Pascal Greggory, as the man that enters into both mother and daughter's lives is effective as the man who seems to bring peace between both.