A Little Chaos **** (2014, Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Alan Rickman, Stanley Tucci) – Movie Review

After a gap of 17 years comes Alan Rickman’s very welcome second film as director, a delightful tale of gardening in old France. It’s a romantic comedy drama.

Kate Winslet and Matthias Schoenaerts star as Sabine De Barra and André Le Notre, talented landscape artists who become romantically entangled while building a garden in King Louis XIV’s palace at Versailles. Sabine believes in A Little Chaos in her designs, a little at odds with André, the French court’s renowned landscape artist.

The handsome couple give lovely, romantic performances, but thank goodness also for Rickman’s role as co-starring actor, playing the King. His scene with Winslet, as they meet accidentally in the garden and share a big intimate moment is a piece-de-resistance of writing and performing. The rest of the film may not be quite as good, but it is still thoroughly civilised and entertaining.

Stanley Tucci overacts shamelessly, and OTT camply, as Philippe Duc d’Orleans, and Jennifer Ehle, Helen McCrory, Steven Waddington and Phyllida Law round out a sweet actor’s actors cast. Does Rickman just phone round his friends on these occasions to help him out? Well he certainly gets by here nicely with a little help from his friends.

Rickman shares the writing credit too, with Jeremy Brock and Alison Deegan.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Movie Review

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