Jumbo Review
NR (Will be R though)Runtime: 1 Hour and 33 MinutesProduction Companies: WTFILMSDistributor: N/ADirector: Zoé WittockWriters: Zoé WittockCast: Noémie Merlant, Emmanuelle Bercot, Sam Louwyck, Bastien BouillonUS Release Date: N/A
Jeanne, a shy young woman, lives at home with her uninhibited bartender mother and works the graveyard shift as a cleaner at an amusement park. Her mother wants her to meet a man, but Jeanne prefers tinkering in her bedroom with wires, light bulbs, and spare parts, creating miniature versions of theme park rides. During her late-night shifts, she begins spending intimate time with the alluring new Tilt-A-Whirl ride that she decides to call “Jumbo.” Finding herself seduced by “his” red lights, smooth chrome, and oily hydraulics, Jeanne concludes that the thrilling new relationship she wants to pursue is with Jumbo.
Coming off the heels of the best movie of 2019, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Noémie Merlant is at it again starring in a new romance, but this time, her love interest is a rollercoaster. Oh yes, Merlant went from starring in a beautiful lesbian romance to being in love with a theme park ride. And surprisingly, it works! At this rate, I’m good with seeing Merlant star in romances where she’s attracted to everything and everyone except a man.This is my second time seeing Merlant as the star in a feature, and damn, she’s so talented! She transitioned from her performance as Marianne in Portrait, who has this mature and wise sensibility, to Jeanne, who exhibits the nature of a shy and timid adolescent. Her character is well into her 20s but she has this quiet, childlike innocence to her personality and expression. She even keeps her hands at her sides at all times and never directly looks into anyone’s eyes. While it’s never actually addressed, there’s a chance that she might be autistic. Merlant brings so much subtlety to the gentleness of this character who has experienced nothing but loneliness, so when she becomes attracted towards this Tilt-A-Whirl ride, you get swept up by her romance. Plus, Merlant’s greatest advantage is her mesmerizing and expressive eyes. Just one glance and you comprehend what she's thinking or what emotional state she's in. It was one of my favorite aspects of her performance in Portrait. Regarding the narrative itself, I was completely surprised by how fully developed it turned out to be. First-time writer/director Zoé Wittock committed to turning this objectively comedic premise into a full-fledged coming of age drama. Yes, it has humorous moments that you laugh at because of the absurdity of the concept, but you also get swept up by the dramatic elements of the story and its imaginative vision.
In regards to the relationship between Jeanne and the rollercoaster Jumbo, it works. As crazy as it sounds, Wittock creatively does her damndest to make the bizarre, surreal romance function. She convinces you that the love between the two parties is mutual and she does it in the most creative ways imaginable. As is the case with any budding romance, no matter what the mating ritual may be, it’s all about connection and communication. They’re the key components of any relationship. It’s through Jeanne’s communication with Jumbo and how she interacts with “him,” matched with some mesmerizing fantastical sequences that are both psychedelic and engrossing, that you truly begin to buy into their relationship. Even the sex scene (oh yeah, you heard me) is very innovative and a bit artsy. You actually care about the relationship between the two and how they communicate. You feel sympathy toward Jeanne, especially when other forces try to bring them down.At the center of the story is the exploration of the relationship between Jeanne and her mother Margarette (Emmanuelle Bercot). As soon as you get a sense of Jeanne’s domestic life and the overbearing, controlling personality of her mother, you understand why Jeanne is the way she is. You pick up on the notion that Jeanne had to endure her mother’s abusive, toxic behavior all of her life. You understand why her first and only attraction is with a rollercoaster – her mother ruined human relationships for her. For a movie about a woman who wants to fuck a rollercoaster, it gets much deeper than you’d think. So much of the story anchors in Jeanne and Margarette’s conflicting relationship and that unexpected layer eventually leads to emotional beats that hit you right in the feels. There was a point in the latter half of the second act where I teared up. Hell, I had to ask myself:
The issue with most movies at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was that the runtimes were too long. Jumbo, on the other hand, was a bit too short in my opinion. Because of its 90-minute running time, I feel that there were undeveloped pieces that could’ve been explored, mostly between the characters. The relationship between Jeanne and Margarette was a bit too rushed, especially by the last act. Margarette spends so much time being the worst fucking mother on Earth that by the last act, the movie goes, “Well, time for her to do one redeemable act of kindness and all is forgiven!” Jeanne’s relationship with her boss Marc (Bastien Bouillon), who is initially either just a good guy or a potential romantic interest, eventually splits on a dime and it’s revealed that he’s actually an asshole. He’s such an interesting character that when he does turn out to be worse than he appears, it’s truly disappointing.That being said, Jumbo is a very special coming-of-age drama that takes full advantage of its premise in an unexpected manner, while boasting another incredible leading performance by Noémie Merlant. It was one of my favorites from the festival and I’m eager to see what Zoé Wittock does next. Rating: 4/5 | 81%
