Roland E. Zwick By turns cerebral, thought-provoking, pretentious and off-putting, "Wild Grass" is a tale of two strangers who become inexplicably obsessed with one another.Adapted by Alex Reval and Laurent Herbiet from the novel "L'Incident" by Christian Gailly, and directed by the legendary French New Waver Alain Resnais, "Wild Grass" focuses on what happens after Georges (Andrei Dussollier), a middle-aged married man who's an aviation aficionado and all-around nut-case, finds a stolen wallet belonging to Marguerite Muir (Sabine Azema), a frizzy-haired (could it be the "wild grass" of the title?) red-headed dentist who flies propeller planes in her spare time. Without even knowing the woman, Georges finds himself inexorably drawn to her, and he'll stop at nothing to insinuate himself into her life. In turn, Marguerite, a single woman who appears to have been boycotting beauty salons her whole life, develops mixed feelings for this man who has essentially become a stalker and who has even gone so far as to slash the tires on her car. And before you know it, Marguerite has become so unstrung and neurotic in her own right that she's sleeping in the cockpit of her plane and has become such a sadist with the dental drill that she would give Dr. Christian Szell - or the Marquis de Sade, for that matter - a run for his money in a pain-inflicting sweepstakes.The off-putting nature of the film comes from the fact that the characters often feel more like the product of a writer's imagination than organic outgrowths from the real world. Their motivations and responses are almost maddeningly preposterous and unclear at times and, as a consequence, our patience with their behavior wears decidedly thin after awhile. There are other distractions as well, such as Marguerite's extraordinarily unmanaged Little Orphan Annie coiffure (we find ourselves wanting to cry out, "Why don't you run a damn comb through that thing?") and the self-conscious cinephilia that is oh-so-typical of French filmmakers.On the positive side, Resnais manages to achieve a hypnotic rhythm with his fluidly flowing tracking shots, and there are definitely some elements of style and theme from some of Resnais' bona fide classics, like "Hiroshima, Mon Amour" and "Last Year at Marienbad," running through this work (the nature of intimacy between strangers and near-strangers being just one of the issues touched upon in all three films).However, these few virtues are not enough to overcome the unlikable nature of the storyline and the two loony and self-absorbed folk who serve as its protagonists. So I guess it's only appropriate that the movie culminate in a spectacularly stupid and laughable into-the-wild-blue-yonder finale that literally, as well as figuratively, crashes and burns on its way to that much delayed but highly appreciated "fin," signaling the end of our ordeal. A fond farewell to all around.

cmother1 I don't know why I keep hiring these films. This is another of a genre that I've dubbed 'Eurotwaddle'. The French are its most skilled producers (look out also for "Celine and Julie go Boating") I've given it 2 stars because I thought the acting was really quite good. Unfortunately the plot was utterly implausible nonsense and I got a distinct feeling that the scriptwriters had painted themselves into a corner by the end. Hence a not very convincing finale to a not very convincing story. I sometimes think French directors are stuck in a time-warp, endlessly trying to re-create the next "Jules and Jim", but failing miserably. Funny thing is, I once saw a film by the same director, made 50 years ago, called "Last Year in Marienbad". It was equally plot less, none of the characters had names and nothing really happened. For some reason it worked and I loved it. Maybe it's just me getting old. . . .

pvernezze Seriously, this is the worst movie I have ever seen. And I have seen a lot of movies. Thousands of them. And this is the worst. Ever. Worse than Exorcist 2. Where to begin. It is illogical. Scenes in one part of the movie could be inserted anywhere in the film. This is because there is nothing resembling a coherent plot. And it has an incredibly stupid ending. And those are its strong points. This film insults the viewing audience. I wasted nearly two hours on my life on this. The only benefit to all of this is if I can possibly prevent others from wasting their precious time on this film. If I could give it a zero or a number in the negatives, I would.

dbairdk Wild Grass is filled with visual joy and playful surprises. It left me smiling from beginning to end. With a brilliant cast and incredible cinematography that will playfully take viewers from blue skies above to the very human folly down below, the story celebrates cinema storytelling itself, as well as our human wish to find some of that movie magic in our daily lives, no matter the consequences. Resnais is now 88 year old (or perhaps 88 years young, more appropriately), for he has created a cinematic cocktail that leaves viewers dizzy with delight and ready to ask the local projectionist to: "pour me another. I want to experience that again!"