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And Now Ladies And Gentlemen
RRP: £15.99
Our Price: £17.77 (subject to change)
Dream Thief
Review date: 2008-05-06 Rating: 8 out of 10
Jeremy Irons is a jewel thief (apparently specializing in Bulgari) who uses clever hoaxes rather than outright force to steal or rob from the prestige shops in which he specializes. While sailing round the world from France he suffers from a problem with his brain. Meanwhile...a singer in France has a contract in Morocco and suffers a similar ailment. They meet in Fez, but then an Italian contessa has her very valuables jewels stolen by a cat burglar....
A watchable film, despite the extreme unlikelihood of a real thief being able to get away with jewel heists in Irons' manner! The ending is slightly ambiguous but not unsatisfying. The locations are great, the acting ditto.
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Reviews
Unambitious but entertaining fluff
Review date: 2006-02-25 Rating: 8 out of 10
Sometimes it's a director's least ambitious films that are their most satisfying. And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen... may just be a piece of romantic fluff from Claude Lelouch, but it's entertaining romantic fluff that doesn't outstay its welcome even at the 128-minute mark. Lelouch is a director whose ambition is only rarely matched by his material, usually overcompensating with impressive technique that fails to hide the thinness of the story and characters. While no-one could ever mistake And Now... for having any depth, it's an pure audience pleaser (albeit possibly for a middle-aged audience that no longer exists) that genuinely pleases. It's rarely laugh out loud funny and it's not one of the great screen romances, but it is a charming and engaging number skilfully crafted.
It's styled after those glossy widescreen 60s romantic comedies about glamorous people in faraway places, usually involving light comic banter and (possibly) wrongly accused gentlemen jewel thieves. Jeremy Irons, so often a hard actor to warm to, is surprisingly likeable here and shows a real gift for comedy in the jewel robbery scenes (the first of which nods amiably to Lelouch's earlier La Bonne Annee). As is his wont, Lelouch casts yet another popular French singer in the other lead, this time Patricia Kass, who turns out better than initially expected. The two are eventually drawn together by the same neurological symptoms, which cause him to dream of returning his ill-gotten gains and her to forget her lyrics while coming over all monochrome, finding themselves in Morocco and en route to a healing shrine and possible romance. With the exception of Thierry L'Hermitte, Amidou and Claudia Cardinale, most of the cast of familiar faces from French cinema have little to do but make an appearance, but they never overbalance the film in the way that the top-heavy casting so often does in the director's other films. Extremely likeable.
Paramount's DVD (unlike the French DVD) is devoid of any extras, but at least offers a good 2.35:1 transfer.
A charming movie with insightful performances.
Review date: 2006-01-22 Rating: 8 out of 10
This is a charming and sensitive movie, with excellent performances from the supporting cast, and a superlative performance from Jeremy Irons who obviously relished his character and plays it with great skill. The story is extremely clever and intriguing, and the singing of the female lead so good that it is surprising she has not reached the top eschelons of popular French music. A movie I can heartily recommend and which I watched three times, getting more enjoyment from it every time.
A Claude Lelouch admirer, Johannesburg, South Africa
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Claudia Cardinale
Jeremy Irons
Alessandra Martines
Patricia Kaas
Thierry Lhermitte
Creators:
Jeremy Irons (Primary Contributor)
Patricia Kaas (Primary Contributor)
Claude Lelouch (Producer)
Claude Lelouch (Writer)
Jean-Paul De Vidas (Producer)
Martine Kampf-Dussart (Producer)
Paul Hitchcock (Producer)
Pierre Leroux (Writer)
Pierre Uytterhoeven (Writer)
Director(s):
Recording label: Paramount Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Paramount Home Entertainment
EAN: 5014437843333
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2004-06-28
Number of discs: 1
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Theatrical release date: 2003-01-30
Language: Arabic (Original Language)
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: French (Original Language)
Language: Italian (Original Language)