Mississippi Mermaid (1970)

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

You know - I seriously think that this 1969 "WTF!?" French film should be promptly re-titled - "The Bad, the Beautiful, and the Boring." - 'Cause, in my eyes, that's all that this wretched "Francois Truffaut" production amounted to.Filled-to-overflowing with one laughably preposterous situation after another - This, to me, was one of those ludicrous romance stories that literally cried, begged, and demanded to be spoofed, big-time.Starring Catherine Deneuve (one of the most vacantly frigid actresses that French cinema has ever produced) - This film's scenes of sexual intimacy were (thanks to Deneuve) some of the most flaccid and non-arousing ever recorded on celluloid.Put plain and simple - I rank Mississippi Mermaid as being just pure adulterated excrement - Nothing more. Nothing less.

I didn't like this much because I couldn't respect the protagonist.Jean-Paul Belmondo has an incredible mug, somewhat of a hybrid of early Brando and Sylvester Stallone. However, his character seems to suffer from either profound mental retardation or suicidal denial.First Marion (Catherine Deneuve) rips him off for 28 million francs. Then he kills a PI to protect her from the cops and must go on the lam. Then his lady love tries to poison him with strychnine. Yet he still finds her adorable. And he doesn't question this because true amour is "difficult."Oh, give me a friggin' break! I'm surprised so exalted a director as Truffaut took this claptrap seriously.I read on Wikipedia that this is one of only three films ever shot in Reunion, a French overseas department off the eastern coast of Africa. I did enjoy some of the tropical scenes. But the characterizations in this film are insulting to anyone of normal intelligence. (Why, why, why would a gumshoe have been so trusting as to confront a shady customer in so confined a space? What WAS he thinking?) Given all the talent in this film, I'm surprised it was so dumb.

The film is a joy to watch, not just for the plot, which is gripping, but also for the superb performances of the actors, Deneuve and Belmondo. Though considered a 'flop' on its first release it has become a critical success, and it is clear to see why. Deneuve's acting style suited the film brilliantly. she constantly gives the impression that she is holding back or hiding something, and her character in this film is. I will not spoil it with saying what, though it is divulged fairly early on. Belmondo is lovable as the fairly naiive but in love tobacconist. I would recommend this film to all Truffaut or Deneuve fans. It is a brilliant Hitchcockian style thriller with exciting twists and interesting relationships and characters that develop as the film does. The film is approx 2 hrs, so you feel that you have not been sold short. Deneuve steals the show in this film, and it is clear that at the time of making the film Truffaut was very much smitten with her. A definite must see for any cineaste or moviefan. 10/10

François Traffaut's "Mississippi Siren" had an unconvincing plot. The screenplay required too much elasticity in suspension of disbelief. The plot went at a glacial pace. It started off in an interesting setting but soon drifted onto the shoals of melodrama that lacked logic or intelligence. What were the critics thinking? This one is overrated even to be described as a loser. Even Catherine Deneuvue, who charmed in "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" and "Belle Doe Jour," managed to be simply annoying. We rented this movie at the same time as we rented another Traffaut film. We watched this one first, and found it to be so bad that we sent the other one back unseen at the same time.