The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, October 20, 2010 - 7A FILM REVIEW Big laughs, big heart, CONCERT PREVIEW Quartet strings' By PHILIP CONKLIN For theDaily At first glance, "Heartbreak- er," the first feature from French director Pas- cal Chaumeil, seems like * another stale Heartbreaker Hollywood romantic com- Thursday at edy.But the film the Michigan is everything FC that recent Hol- lywood roman- tic comedies aren't and everything they're trying to be - romantic and funny. Romain Doris ("The Spanish Apartment") stars as Alex Lippi, an expert seducer who profes- sionally breaks up relationships in which the women are "unknow- ingly unhappy." Alex is hired by a millionaire, whose daughter Juliette (Vanessa Paradis, "Girl on the Bridge") is set to marry a rich Englishman. He only has 10 days to breakupthe couple, who seem tobe blissfully in love. While she plot is convoluted and ridiculous, it's one of the movie's only flaws. The outline of the story is somewhat preposterous, but the heart of the movie is brilliant. It's by turns hilarious and tender, moving seamlessly between the two thanks to an exceptional script and stellar acting. Duris gives a nuanced perfor- mance that accentuates the depth of his character. Alex is easily charming, disarmingly handsome and sophisticated, but he's not the archetypal macho hero. Unlike most male characters in romantic comedies, he has a sense of humor about himself; while the film emphasizes his suaveness, it 1 also pokes fun at it, making him more emotionally relatable. Also, in a refreshing derivation from romantic comedy convention, he is as vulnerable, or possibly more so, than his female counterpart. And though his profession, which involves learning intimate infor- mation about women so that he can seduce them and break up their relationships, sounds sleazy and misogynistic, he is actually doing his clients a service: He "wakes them up," making them realize they Ne ob! will It's the b block of th greate quarte violist joining celebr salem for its cert been a Aft all-ma salem violist accept violist w violist assures Kam, who has toured extensively and won several international scure repertoire music competitions, was an ideal replacement for Grosz. still be relatable "I've known these guys almost as long as they've been playing By JOE CADAGIN together," Kam said in a phone DailyArts Writer interview with the Daily. "I met them a long time ago, and we sort hard being the new kid on of had a musical relationship from lock, especially when the time to time over the last 15 years. is one So joining the group was not the e world's most unnatural or strange thing ast string ... I expected it to be much harder ts. But for Quartet than it has been." Ori Kam, Thursday In its third University Musical g Israel's Society appearance on Oct. 21, the ated Jeru- at 8 p.m. Jerusalem Quartet will perform Quartet Rackham two standards of string quartet 2010 con Auditorium repertoire as well as a lesser- tour has known gem. painless transition. First on the program is Men- er 17 years together, the delssohn's String Quartet No. 4 le award-winning Jeru- in E Minor. Composed in 1867, it Quartet was recently left was the second in a series of three -less when Amihai Grosz quartets dedicated to the Crown :ed the position of principal Prince of Sweden. of the Berlin Philharmonic. "Mendelssohn is an important U' along. and pivotal composer," Kam said. "On the one hand, he's very much aclassical composer ... with a clar- ity of form and a clarity of ideas that comes in classical music like Beethoven and Mozart. On the other hand, (his music) has the emotional impact and com- plexity of the Romantic Period, with composers like Brahms or Schumann. And he's very much the missing link between these two periods." Kam also pointed out that though Mendelssohn's family con- verted from Judaism to Lutheran- ism, there isstill a kind of "Jewish thread" running through the composer's music to which the Israeli-based Jerusalem Quartet can relate. Also on the Jerusalem Quar- tet's program is Brahms's String Quartet in C Minor. Composed in 1873, the piece is the second of only three string quartets that Brahms ever published. Brahms See JERUSALEM, Page 8A TV REVIEW Anorexia is too painful to watch The woman whose armpits your woman's armpits could smell like. aren't happy in their relationships micky. and that they deserve better. While "Heartbreaker" is a The rest of the characters in huge departure from the mod- "Heartbreaker" are equally like- ern romantic comedy, it is still, able and wonderfully portrayed. through and through, a part of Paradis's Juliette is beautiful, but the genre. But rather than try too hard to be something it's not, the film embraces its place in cinema. i Despite containing things that on French rom antic the surface seem incredibly cheesy (for example, a reenactment of the comedy boasts famous dancing scene from "Dirty actualrDancing"), the characters are so rom ance engaging and their relationships so and comedy. authentic that the movie is never sappy or forced. The film maintains a rapid pace, and much of it plays more like an also refined and independent, action film than a romantic com- which is uncommon among female edy. There are "Ocean's Eleven"- characters in the movies these style heist sequences, complete days. And Lippi's colleagues, sister with tapped phones and hidden- and brother-in-law are excellent, camera surveillance. There's even bringing levity and humor to all a gangster-type moneylender to their scenes without being gim- See HEARTBREAKER, Page BA By ALEX RUSS' Daily Arts Writer A lot of people have issues with eating. Maybe it's difficult to put down that last chocolate chip * cookie. Maybe you walk away V from the restau- rant knowing EatIng You you should haveW ordered a salad Wednesdays instead of a bacon atlO p.m. double cheese- E! burger. But these problems are nothing compared to the real eating disorders displayed on the new E! television series "What's Eating You" While the show provides a genuine and often scary look into the lives of people afflicted by eating disorders, it has an overwhelmingly downbeat tone that's almost impossible to over- come. The first episode follows the lives of Adrienne and Dannie. Adrienne lives in Phoenix and is a highly talented yet grossly under- weight dancer who considers a full meal to be two spoonfuls of plain oatmeal. Danni lives in New Jer- sey and fell into anorexia due to the stress of her brother's medical problems, as well as falling short of becoming cheerleading captain in high school - which was her aspiration for her entire four years there. The two girls are brought to therapists to help cope with their issues, but the sessions don't go as smoothly as planned. "What's Eating You" does a fan- tastic job of giving a personal look at the lives of everyday people and their struggles with this disease. This is not taken from some celeb- rity's point of view. Watching the girls deny that they have problems or attempt to refuse treatment can be difficult to watch, but it's indica- tive of the power and influence eat- ing disorders can have. On that note, though, the show is almost too depressing. Eating disorders create a lot of problems for the people they afflict, as well as the people around them. But that doesn't mean there can't be some happy moments within the show. All that was shown was how the disorders hit the girls and their families from all sides. Not only is Adrienne's health in danger, but so is her relationship with her fam- ily, as well as her job as a dancer. We needed a little room to breathe and relax; there's enough stub- bornness, crying and feelings of helplessness to make us consider turning the TV off because it's just so painful. Least sensitive show name ever. "What's Eating You" is a fas- cinating series, but one can only hope the show decides to be more heartwarming than heart-wrench- ing in the future. This show gives testimony to the fact that eating disorders are never to be taken lightly, but at the same time, it's impossible to really enjoy. COLLEGEtDISCOUNT LUCKILY THE GM COLLEGE DISCOUNT DOESN'T. 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