(2001)
3.5
Josh Ralske
Francois Truffaut protégé Claude Miller based this film on the thriller The Tree of Hands by Ruth Rendell. Miller's lighter, more pedestrian adaptation doesn't offer much in the way of suspense or action, but it's very effective at portraying the brittle relationship between a mentally ill mother, Margot (Nicole Garcia), and her repressed adult daughter, Betty (Sandrine Kiberlain), a successful and reclusive novelist grieving over the sudden death of her young son. That mother-daughter relationship is made indelible in the first scene of the film, wherein Margot affectionately caresses the hair of the young Betty moments before attacking her with a pair of scissors. Margot's ill-conceived effort to salvage their bond is at the heart of the film. Garcia is excellent as the emotionally obtuse, heavily medicated mom, and Kiberlain does outstanding work as a repressed young woman who finds herself opening up to the new child in her life. While these two actresses are on the screen, the film possesses a real power. Unfortunately, Miller spends a great deal of screen time on slightly less compelling secondary characters, including a neglectful young mother, Carole (Mathilde Seigner), her goodhearted but unlucky immigrant boyfriend, Francois (Luck Mervil), and her former boyfriend, the self-involved scam artist Alex (Edouard Baer). These actors, particularly Mervil, do a creditable job, but their story lines don't have the emotional weight of that central relationship, and as a result, the cumulative power of the film is diffused. Betty Fisher and Other Stories would have been better off focusing more on Betty Fisher and less on other stories.
Alias Betty on AllMovie
Alias Betty (2001)
