Which brings us to 'Moliere' a whimsical tale taken with equal parts historical fact and equal parts fantasy for the sake of narrative. It tells of Moliere (Romain Duris), the soon to be premiere comedy writer in all of France, and his struggle to find his voice. It sets up the third act in the first act, before jumping back thirteen years to a time in Moliere's life that defined and inspired him in all of his great works,

particularly that of 'Tartuffe' one of his several masterpieces of theater. The film makes great use of Moliere's razor wit dialogue and manic energy in many of its scenes, where the characters speak the same words as their soon-to-be literary counterparts. Fans of Moliere's will have fun dissecting the dialogue and piecing it to this play or that play.

    Romain Duris shoulders the main dramatic burden and, at times, his story can become a little too intense. He physically pulls off depicting Moliere, but hams up the tortured artist role a tad much. Often, he reminds of you of “that artist guy” in college (the one with the beret) who is constantly bemoaning about the lack of quality in anything. For a biopic about a comedian, he is often times wholly without comedic appeal, though he certainly has many great tete a tetes with the various inhabitants of the villa. The supporting cast, while given most of the comedic stylings, are lacking any real characterization, as they are more often than not merely caricatures of characters from Moliere plays. Fabrice Luchini, playing M Jourdain, is a delight as the strict, heartsick father of the family and has many moments, such as impersonating a horse, where the joke is most assuredly on him.

    Moliere’s passion is embodied by the regal lady, Elmire Jourdain (Laura Morante) who radiates mature beauty every second she is on screen. Her role is larger than it originally seems and as the story unfolds, we learn of her influence on the young and wide-eyed Moliere and the effects it has on the rest of his life as a playwright. I was led astray by the love interest, and thought it was going to be Jourdain’s older daughter, because, well, that’s how these things work out. It’s nice to see an older, still beautiful actress still have the ability to wow the audience with her charm, intelligence and beauty.

    The sets and costumes are lavish and unlike a certain other period piece ::coughMarieAntoinette::cough::, it does not revel in showing off all the pretty dresses. Technically, the film is competent. There is nothing spectacular about the cinematography and, given the talky nature of the script, it lingers a little long on a particular scene, giving it that old tyme theater feel. The direction is very...hallmark-esque, in that we all feel good at the end, maybe learn something we didn’t know before, but ultimately a bit shallow. The film survives on the charisma of its leads and witty dialogue. Any director could have stepped in and done the job of Laurent Tirard. While this is not a severe condemnation of the man, it simply means he did what he needed to do and there is no shame in that.

    Even at two hours, the film feels a bit long. Certain scenes and subplots feel superfluous and are added only for the sake of the eventual play that will emerge at the end. Moliere disguises himself as a priest to tutor the youngest daughter of Jourdain, but after one scene, she is of no importance anymore. The plot involving Henriette...well, it makes you wonder if anyone actually married for position back in the day. We get it, they all loved somebody else back then, can we add a little originality to the star-crossed lovers motif, please?    

    Like a Moliere play, by the end, you will be smiling. There is no denying the energy and passion that went into creating this film. Everyone was having fun with what they were given and it shows up on screen in every frame. Those expecting a history lesson, or even the societal criticisms Moliere was so good at, must sadly look elsewhere, as ‘Moliere’ exists solely in the realm of whimsical fantasy: a lovely, witty comedic departure, not too deep, but wholly satisfying.