I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Coco Chanel had an amazing, fascinating life, though I don't think one would know it from "Coco Before Chanel," released in 2009.This is the story of Chanel (Audrey Tatou) from her shabby beginnings as an orphan to the beginning of her great success as a couturier. It is through men who take an interest in her that Coco succeeds - first, Étienne Balsan (Benoît Poelvoorde), and the love of her life, Boy Capel (Alessandro Nivola). Capel is the man who first established her salon in Paris, and she was so successful, she was able to repay him all of the money he invested. He also may be in part responsible for the look of the "Chanel No. 5" bottle.The production is dazzling -- costumes, scenery, and Tatou is good as Chanel, a young woman who takes a dim view of love before even falling in love. Once she does, she wants it all - marriage, settling down, but it is not to be. Alessandro Nivola is stunning.Unfortunately, Mr. Nivola's handsomeness and the lovely Ms. Tatou can't make up for the dreadfully slow pace and dull story. The beginning, with Gabrielle (Coco) and her sister as a singing duo was really the best, and then it kind of fizzles out after she becomes involved with Balsan.I haven't seen every single thing ever made about Chanel, but I know that there were aspects of her life, such as her Nazi leanings, friendships within the British government, her dealings over Chanel No. 5 with the Wertheimers - that are very compelling. I'm not sure how they would play out on screen, but she was an important figure in the 20th Century, and as such, deserves to have her entire story told. The TV movie with Shirley MacLaine told the story of the late part of her life, whitewashing what went on before, and this tells the beginning. Let's see something of her activities in the '30s and '40s on the big screen.

I really didn't like this movie very much. We only got the barest sense of Chanel's style and how she grew into becoming a celebrity designer--instead, it felt like 30% of movies were shots of Balsan's degenerate castle lifestyle and Tatou being stony and sulky, before she met Boy Capel and it segued into a rather predictable love story that's very, very slow. There are endless shots of people's over the top hats and dresses.It doesn't much discuss Chanel's career, instead weaving it around a love story that wraps around the feminist constructions of those days, and the roles of women.

Audrey Tatou does a remarkable job in bringing Coco Chanel to life. Her portrayal of Coco is a far cry from Amelie. I'm surprised that she wasn't nominated for her performance. Whie her performance is perhaps the film's best feature, the screenplay needed a lot of work. There are gaps and missing info from when she leaves for Paris or to the château. Anyway, I found the film to be entertaining but slow at times. I enjoyed the period costumes which were first rate and the rest of the cast's performances as well. But still it's Tatou's performance as the legendary fashion icon Coco Chanel who stands out in the film. She really captures her in a way that she is humanized to the audience. One can't help wondering who Coco Chanel was. She was a woman but determined, ambitious and driven to succeed independently in a man's world. Coco Chanel deserves movies to be made about her. She defied convention in fashion and in life.

To be frank, this biographic film about legendary Gabrielle Chanel is disappointedly plain and perfunctory although it has a Chanelesque panache in its appearance and hardware. For me the dialogue is poorly written, full of clichés which could be easily eavesdropped during any cheap romantic chick flick. As it is a film about Chanel (especially as the title itself suggests that it's a film about her life before global success), the importance is to underline the uniqueness inside her which would bring her the later prestige fame, unfortunately the payoff of the film is her two bog- standard relationship both as a mistress, which eludes the most intriguing question, how could she manage to infuse her offbeat talent into the fashion business at her time? The film skimps a larger portion of it (which we could only witness from her intermittent scenes with Emilienne, an underperformed Emmanuelle Devos).Audrey Tautou did a great job to showcase Coco's pride and fragile in the same shot, as for two supporting lovers, Alessandro Nivola is handsome enough, but with a rather wooden performance, the chemistry between the lovebirds is far from convincing, which directly hampers the whole keynote of the film and demotes Coco's personal mien as well. On the contrary the ordinary-looking Benoit Poelvoorde deserves more recognition for his rough but more empathized interpretation as the rich womanizer, Baron Balsan. The fancy costumes of the film are worth appraising and it doesn't matter if you are in fashion business or not. But we are not watching a documentary or a fashion show, it is beyond its power to save the film itself from being a mediocre one.