I still can’t believe I enjoyed “Annette” despite my loathe for musicals and the trailers smelling like poop. The most trivial plot gets elevated by an excellent direction and imaginative mise en scene. The tone is a little uncertain, with farcical moments alternated with dramatic outbursts in a way that can either engage or completely turn off its audience. It gets a little dull at times, but the ending alone was enough to let me leave the theater with a good feeling.

The songs are indeed the weakest link in the chain - most of the time it sounded like they had the actors improvise a random melody while reading the script. The arrangements on the back are pretty cool; it’s the melodies at the core to be the problem. Even if the aim was to make a Broadway musical spoof, it doesn’t mean that you are authorized to slack off on the songwriting (just think of South Park, for example).

By the way, good luck on Leos Carax making fun of American entertainment in his first film with a Hollywood cast.