french exit

Michelle Pfeiffer’s icy, incandescent performance garnered her a Golden Globe nomination, even though Azazel Jacobs’ film leaves much to be desired. Pfeiffer plays elegant, entitled Frances Price, a once-wealthy Manhattan widow who has fecklessly blown through her late husband Frank’s fortune.

Michelle Pfeiffer seems to have nine lives in French Exit. She is also a poster child for the wealthy WASP mavens of the last century who never ate, rarely emoted, smoked and drank heavily and were perfectly turned out at every waking moment. Women named Babe, Alva, Muffy and Cornelia.

There are some who think that Valerie Mahaffey ritzes up the joint, that she adds quirk and zest and uniqueitude. The character actress does just that to French Exit although the film is already a bit quirky and different, so Mahaffey fits right in with Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges.