DVD
The Woman in the Fifth
Madman
The Woman in the Fifth has all the makings of a fabulous film – a stellar cast (Kristin Scott Thomas and Ethan Hawke), a fabulous location (Paris, depicted as beautiful one minute, gritty the next) and a half-decent plot.
Based on the Douglas Kennedy novel, this Pawel Pawlikowski film has Hawke playing American writer Tom Ricks, who heads to Paris (with a so-so French accent) in an attempt to reconcile with his estranged wife and six-year-old daughter.
After his luggage is stolen, he books into a dodgy hotel, the owner giving him a job as a night guard (in what appears to be an equally dodgy operation) to pay for his room.
He meets the mysterious Margit (Scott Thomas) at a literary party, they hit it off and get it on.
The hotel owner’s girlfriend is also besotted and Tom accepts her advances too. Between one woman, another woman and the night guard gig, the anticipation is gripping.
And then, nothing. Cue end credits. Loose ends sprawled all over my lounge room. This gets one star for eye candy and one for its length.
At only 80 minutes, you haven’t wasted too much time only to be left thinking, “Huh?”.
