A Little Chaos (Alan Rickman, 2014) Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman (Louis XIV), Matthias Schoenaerts, Stanley Tucci; Two talented landscape artists become romantically entangled while building a garden in King Louis XIV's palace at Versailles.
Kenji Fujishima:
Alan Rickman’s film is consistently, and often dispiritingly, mired in the quaint tradition of the classy costume drama: lavish sets, costumes, and décor, all combined with little to no formal risk-taking. Slantmagazine.
Mike McCahill:
Mostly, the film feels like an extension of Rickman’s established screen persona – it’s dry, somewhat cranky, and altogether low on energy. ...
If Winslet gamely mucks in, Schoenaerts fares less well. He certainly looks the 17th-century part, but the charisma the Belgian displayed in 2012’s Rust and Bone is nowhere to be seen: Le Nôtre is too much the staid middleman to convince as the dashing romantic hero Deegan wants to reposition him as. We’re left watching an actor-director’s Sunday project, no more pressing or demanding than a spot of weeding: it’s operating comfortably within heritage cinema’s safe zone, but at no point does Rickman succeed in making the earth move. Reader's Digest.
Garry Gillard | reviews | New: 1 December, 2022 | Now: 1 December, 2022