Michel Gondry tries to bring dreams to the screen and he certainly nails the anything-goes visual world of our sleep; cuddly toys take flight, cityscapes of cellophane and corrugated cardboard rise and fall and the hero battles his squabbling co-workers with an outsize pair of hands.
His characters are far less arresting when they are awake, though. The central love story misfires and although Bernal brings his usual charm to the role, his character is such a big petulant kid that it's a relief when he decides to head back to Mexico. Charlotte Gainsbourg is equally irritating- and it's significant that despite his cack-handed wooing of her, it's her mate Emma de Caunes' number that Bernal really wants... and who can blame him?
Well, what can I say? This film is French, so obviously it's pretentious piffle, as is the tradition. I would have given this flight of fancy 1 star - but the animation sequences are good, as is some acting, and there are a few good one-liners. And Paris looks pretty. Otherwise, this is only for lovers of Gondry and cinematic Frenchiness. At least it's not as bad as 'Tokyo', another load of prententioua French faffing about and nonsense.
Pointless, storyless, incoherent drivel that only a psychologist, nay a psychiatrist, could fathom. A complete waste of time and effort to even put the DVD into a drive. Avoid like the plague