As far as I know Sandrine Kiberlain remains separated from husband Vincent Lindon, a fact I find sad as they are not only two of the finest French actors currently working but also two of my personal favourites and I can't, as it happens, recall seeing either give a bad performance. On the positive side they do have a daughter together and this enables me to indulge in the word-play above (enceinte is not only the French word for pregnant it also forms a true rhyme with Vincent) in order to write about a film whose basic premise is that Juge Kiberlain, a woman for whom the expression 'sober as a judge' might have been coined, is persuaded against hew will and indeed wish to join colleagues for a New Year celebratory drink which leaves her with no memory of the next few hours and totally bemused to find herself slightly enceinte some six months later with absolutely no idea of how, where and more pertinently who. This last is quickly resolved when hardened criminal and jailbird Dupontel, brought to her office for questioning, recognizes her and marks her card. From then, of course, the film has only one way to go and we are invited along for the ride. I, for one, found it a pleasant trip; a long-time admirer of Dupontel especially away from the 'bad boy' pourris that is his own personal albatross - has no one seen him in, for example, Fauteuils d'Orchestre, for God's sake - and I was pleased to be able to shake his head at a recent screening of the film. Kiberlain, as always, was a delight and it was pleasant to spot a Celia Johnson lookalike in the shape of Miche Bernard-Requin. The only jarring note in fact came from Terry Gilliam, invited on stage by Dupontel, who sycophantically overpraised director Dupontel's extended opening shot as if totally ignorant of Awesome Welle's definitive opening to Touch Of Evil.
Review of 9-Month Stretch
