It would be a massive understatement to call the works of filmmaker Quentin Dupieux “weird.” After all, this is the man who made a movie about a malevolent tire as his big breakthrough. Rubber certainly put him on the map, but interestingly, his latest film Deerskin is what may finally endear him to a larger crowd. To be sure, this is still a very odd flick, but it’s powered by a strong lead performance, a low-key charm, and a slow burn to its unusual nature. This won’t be for everyone, but in terms of Dupieux, it’s going to be for more people than ever before. The film is a black comedy that slowly veers into horror territory. Georges (Jean Dujardin) its recently divorced and on a long road trip to a small French alpine village. Along the way, he stops and pays a man (Albert Delpy) a ton of money for a genuine deerskin jacket, with a digital video camera thrown in as a bonus for Georges. Almost immediately, the jacket begins to exert an unusual influence on him. Taking up shop in the hotel of the sleepy town, he begins filming random things. Pretending to be a filmmaker, he becomes friends with local bartender Denise (Adèle Haenel), who aspires to be a film editor. Georges begins to give Denise his tapes to edit, “hiring” her to work on his movie. The disturbing footage (which I’ll save for you to discover) thrills her, instead of driving her away. Then, things get really weird. Dupieux writes and directs, with supporting work from Pierre Gomme, Laurent Nicolas, Coralie Russier, and more. Janko Nilovic provides the music, while Dupieux himself handles the cinematography, as well as the editing. Jean Dujardin is really terrific in this movie, selling every weird bit of it. Adèle Haenel is excellent too in her supporting role, but this is largely the Dujardin show. He anchors the oddness on screen, especially when things go from largely comedic and offbeat to disturbing and even horrific. Writer/director Quentin Dupieux wisely cast him, since without a performance like this, you might end up checking out midway through. Don’t sleep on Haenel, either, as her more grounded turn goes to some very surprising places. By the time the end credits roll, you’ll definitely be thinking about what Dujardin has done here, but Haenel is right behind him. Deerskin goes a bit off the […]