In Rebecca Zlotowski's A Private Life, Jodie Foster plays Dr. Lilian Steiner, a bilingual American psychologist who lives in Paris. When one of her patients (Virginie Efira) commits suicide, the Doctor is convinced the woman was murdered. The most likely suspect? The husband, played by Mathieu Amalric, a philandering man who answers a stranger's appearance on his front door completely naked - among other things.
Despite the movie's desire to incorporate elements of Hitchcock and Bergman, it never amounts to a less than stellar climax, which, when it arrives, falls flatter than an opened can of week old beer. The most remarkable aspect, if I must choose one, is Foster's performance. Her character does not only drink a lot of wine, shed several fistfuls of tears, and start an affair with her ex-husband. She also speaks French with the expertise of a virtuoso linguist, an achievement rather rare for an American these days (or any days, really). A Private Life is (somewhat of) a missfire, all things being equal, but at least it's an ambitious one.
☆☆
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