review for A Single Girl on AllMovie

A day in the life of a moody Parisian hotel worker is the topic for A Single Girl, which has the look and feel of being paced in real time. After Valerie (Virginie Ledoyen) reveals to her boyfriend that she is pregnant and wants to break up, the film becomes an exercise in voyeurism as she goes about her work duties under the gaze of the handheld camera. Ledoyen is a typical beauty, perfectly composed in every activity and revealing very little about Valerie's character. Presumably, she is pondering her decision and leaves the audience plenty of time to do the same. The emphasis on realism and lack of an intrusive plot structure suggest elements of both French New Wave and pseudo documentary. The camera follows her through every hallway, elevator ride, and staircase. Capturing the subtlety of everyday events in her life seems to be the point here, with no background music or gaps in time and space. However, other than her classic beauty-queen face, there is nothing terribly interesting about Valerie to warrant spending so much time with her. Nonetheless, A Single Girl is watchable for the dramatic subtext hidden beneath the ordinary work day. Interestingly, the tacked-on ending that picks up on her story a couple years later changes the tone completely. Also paced in real time, the conclusion offers a warm interaction between Valerie and her mother, which helps to round out her character a bit more fully.