Certified Copy [2010]

What we have here is a story of two people driving around Tuscani, talking, talking and talking about very little. Now I don’t usually have a problem with that, as long as it keeps me awake and interested. Afterall, I’m a huge fan of Woody Allen, and we all know how talky his movies can be. But what writer/director Abbas  Kiarostami failed to realise is that rolling the hills of the Tuscan Landscape doesn’t compensate for the lack of plot, humor, and more importantly, a reason to give a crap about the two characters who obviously have plenty of  issues (hence the talking). Halfway through the film, the two, who apparently just met, start acting as if they were married for fifteen year! This was amazingly confusing and distracting, which led me to spend the rest of the film trying to figure out what the hell was going on and consequently missed any meaning in the dialogue between the two characters. Are the couple simply having an intellectual/deep conversation? Or are they actually married and denying the past? Your head will spin trying to figure this one out. The frustrating part of this is that there’s  not enough information for the viewer to make up their own mind. Only Juliette Binoche’s presence (she speaks three languages here) saves this one from being a complete waste of time. The talented, but overshadowed William Shimell can’t keep up.

I guess the main problem with “Certified Copy” is that it raises more questions than it answers, and leaves the viewer wanting so much more (and that’s always a bad sign). It’s a missed opportunity in my opinion.

Rating: 2/4