Vatel (2000)

Director

• Roland Joffé

Starring

• Gérard Depardieu
• Uma Thurman
• Tim Roth
• Julian Glover
• Julian Sands

Last On

01:10-02:45 Mon 5th Jul 2010 95m
BBC2

Synopsis

It's ironic that a film about the frequent aversion of disaster should itself have toppled over the precipice. All the ingredients seemed right - a screenplay co-written by Tom Stoppard, an Ennio Morricone score and Gérard Depardieu as François Vatel, the backstreet urchin whose culinary expertise and genius for baroque entertainments enchanted the court of Louis XIV. But, under Roland Joffé's undistinguished direction, what emerges is a disappointing romp in which sexual and political intrigue is interspersed with misfiring spectacle and inconsequential banter. Failing to exploit the grandeur of the period and wasting an ill-at-ease cast which includes Uma Thurman, Tim Roth and Julian Sands, this is both extravagant and unappetising.