Emilia Perez

Zoe Saldaña

Weeks ago, Jacques Audiard's Emilia Pérez seemed primed to be the worst Best Picture Oscar winner since Crash. Now, it looks like that ship has sailed. To be fair, Audiard has the germ of a good idea here: a Narco opera in which a cartel head goes into hiding by changing his sex. However, the music is lousy as is the choreography and Audiard's cast is, at best, serviceable. Only Zoe Saldaña comes off effectively while Selena Gomez is badly miscast as the wife of a drug lord. I understand this concession to the marketplace, but Gomez's talents are better suited to lighter fare.

Audiard has written a suitably tragic ending to his film, but does not possess the romantic or expressionistic style that would be suited to his material. His is a realistic approach that fails to match the attempted ambience whether portraying musical numbers or violence. The picture is flat and non-affective whether we are watching half-assed tributes to Busby Berkely or the guignol of severed fingers. The "Mrs. Doubtfire" aspect of the plot's domestic scenes, which should seem creepier, register inappropriately because Audiard is set upon making Emilia a tragic heroine. Audiard refuses to view Emilia with much ambivalence and she never becomes an interesting character. She goes from troubled kingpin to reform minded saint as soon as her testicles are excised. Audiard is willing to absolve his heroine of her past sins, but I cannot shake the bad faith of his conception.