In some ways Gerard Depardieu is the Gallic Helen Mirren, i.e a more than accomplished actor, admired by his peers, adored by fans, an Award winner yet with a compulsion to take off his/her clothes. He did it first - to my knowledge - back in the 70s in The Last Woman where, not content to spend half the film in the buff, he cut off his penis for an encore. He stops short of self-mutilation here and the one full-frontal scene - it occurs when, following his arrest, he is strip-searched = last no more than a couple of minutes. Depardieu, like most of the cast, phones it in and I suppose one has to give him credit for appearing in something that is both cheesy and sleazy, the sort of role a young actor will take on to get noticed. In fact the only reason I can think of for the appearance of Jacqeline Besset as Depardieu's wife is the fact that she has more or less dropped off the radar and the ego needed a little massaging. There's absolutely nothing to recommend in this movie - perhaps 20 years ago the sex would have sold it, a la Last Tango In Paris, but not in an age where you can access the same thing at the click of a mouse.
Review of Welcome to New York
