'My Golden Days' is too knowingly coy for its own good
Adolescent love in all its ardor is the ostensible subject of Arnaud Desplechin鈥檚 鈥淢y Golden Days,鈥� but its real subject is moviemaking itself. The film is an arty grab bag of lifts and homages drawn from French films, most pointedly director Fran莽ois Truffaut鈥檚. It鈥檚 the kind of movie that probably appeals best to film critics, who can congratulate each other for spotting all the 鈥渋n鈥� references.聽
Divided into three sections, it鈥檚 mostly about Paul D茅dalus (played as a young man by Quentin Dolmaire), whose devotion to the captivatingly flirty Esther (Lou Roy-Lecollinet) is the on again, off again core of his existence. There are some perceptive passages dealing with the infuriating inconstancy of young love, and a few pointed scenes featuring the adult Paul (played by Mathieu Amalric), but overall this overlong movie is too knowingly coy for its own good. Grade: B- (Rated R for some strong sexual content, graphic nudity, and language.)
