At first glance, Love Songs raises hopes for another urbane and lushly romantic French musical in its reunion of composer Michel LeGrand and star Catherine Deneuve (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg). Released in 1984, it rode on the coattails of the (thankfully brief) early ’80s pop musicals, packing in a catalogue of songs barely integrated into the story, and made the last time a film could feature a lineup of out-of-shape dancers. But unlike Flashdance, the pacing is pre-MTV, slow for a musical or a romantic drama.

First and maybe foremost: Deneuve does not sing, or lip sync. Her Margaux, an emotionally rigid music agent, throws herself into her career to support her two kids. However, Margaux is a reminder that Deneuve can play vulnerable, revealed in the first half when her husband abruptly abandons her and their children. Months after the separation, she begins an affair with the handsome Jeremy (Christopher Lambert), the more introverted half of a struggling pop duo working the club circuit. Not wanting a confrontation with her children, she kicks him out of her bed and apartment every morning before they wake up. (He wants a commitment, she wavers.) But the film’s real passion lies between the two musicians, lifelong friends. They live, roughhouse, compose, and lip sync together. Jeremy is even willing to sacrifice his career so that his partner can shine in the spotlight alone.

Unfortunately, LeGrand clearly was not in his music element. The synth-pop score sounds like a remix of various top 40 hits, producing memories of other, more memorable songs. One number sounds like a note-by-note rewrite of DeBarge’s “Rhythm of the Night.” (Say what you will about the more traditional musical Yentl, which was made shortly before Love Songs, LeGrand’s score there stood out.) The film’s one surprise is the debut of preteen Charlotte Gainsbourg as Deneuve’s melancholic and perceptive daughter, the film’s most mature, fully realized character. It’s not that you see her potential—it’s already there. Kent Turner
November 12, 2008