Richard Linklater – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

NOUVELLE VAGUE – Review by Sara Clements

October 29, 2025January 13, 2026 Sara Clements Aubry Dullin, French New Wave, Guillaume Marbeck, Jean Seberg, Jean-Luc Godard, Nouvelle Vague, Richard Linklater, Zoey Deutch

“Following the rules won’t get me where I want to go,” declares Jean-Luc Godard in Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague – a line that doesn’t just define the man, but the movement he helped ignite. With this spirited black-and-white homage, Linklater dives headfirst into the messy, miraculous making of Breathless (1960), the film that detonated the French New Wave and rewrote the language of cinema. What unfolds is not just a biopic or a behind-the-scenes reenactment; it’s a cinephile’s dream. It’s a film about filmmaking that revels in spontaneity, celebrates rebellion, and honours the radical power of creative freedom.

Festivals Reviews

NOUVELLE VAGUE (Cannes FF 2025) – Review by Diane Carson

June 11, 2025June 11, 2025 Diane Carson Breathless, Cannes FF 2025, French New Wave, Jean Seberg, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Nouvelle Vague, Raoul Coutard, Richard Linklater

In a fortuitous union of sensibilities, director Richard Linklater adopts and honors the French New Wave’s style in Nouvelle Vague. Known for his imaginative approach to film, his creative inclinations align perfectly with the innovative, untraditional approach of 1950s and 1960s French cinema. Among the iconic works of those rule-breakers, Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 “Breathless” (“A bout de souffle”) remains a celebrated triumph. Credit, then, to Linklater’s courage in deciding to recreate Godard’s day-by-day production of that film and to do it in black-and-white while also identifying Godard’s many famous Cahiers du Cinéma friends and colleagues, their names superimposed over those playing them on screen. In addition, the casting of lookalike actors brings the imagined production to life: those for Godard, director of photography Raoul Coutard, and stars Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg.

Reviews

HIT MAN – Review by Susan Granger

June 10, 2024June 13, 2024 Susan Granger Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio, Glenn Powell, hit man, netflix, Richard Linklater

“You have to live passionately – on your own terms,” instructs Gary Johnson (Glenn Powell), a mild-mannered, tech-savvy, psychology/philosophy professor at the University of New Orleans, who moonlights occasionally for local law enforcement, setting up recording/listening devices for their ‘sting’ operations. One day, while in the audio surveillance truck, he is summoned to fill in for a veteran undercover detective (Austin Amelio) who was caught in a compromising situation. Basically, geeky Gary is told to pretend to be a hitman for hire.

Commentaries

Portrayal of Latinas in HIT MAN and ATLAS – Commentary by Jennifer Green

June 5, 2024June 5, 2024 Jennifer Green Adria Arjona, Atlas, Glen Powell, hit man, jennifer lopez, Richard Linklater, stereotype of Latinas

Two new, high-profile releases are offering very different representations of Latinas in roles played by Jennifer Lopez and Adria Arjona. In the sci-fi actioner Atlas, Lopez saves the world, fighting off robots intent on destroying humanity, battling them from inside an AI mech suit and outwitting both them and her male colleagues. She’s buff and smart but also vulnerable, grappling with trust issues left over from childhood trauma. Compare this to Arjona’s role in Hit Man. Arjona plays a woman who considers hiring a hit man to kill her abusive husband, but the hit man is actually an undercover police contractor who convinces her not to. Instead, she leaves her husband and embarks on a steamy affair with the hit man.

Reviews

HIT MAN – Review by Serena Seghedoni

October 10, 2023October 10, 2023 Serena Seghedoni (Archived contributor) Adria Arjona, bfi london film festival, Glen Powell, hit man, Richard Linklater, Skip Hollandsworth

Hit Man’s protagonist is Gary Johnson, an extremely ordinary psychology and philosophy university professor whom you’d barely notice if you passed him on the street. But Gary has a side job, as he collaborates with the New Orleans Police in his spare time, helping them catch prospective offenders. And, when we first meet him, he’s just been promoted from “man in the van” to “contract killer.” In other words, his new role requires him to meet with ordinary people looking to hire a hit man and get their requests on tape, so that the cops can arrest them.

Reviews

WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE – Review by Susan Granger

August 21, 2019August 22, 2019 Susan Granger 0 Comments cate blanchett, Richard Linklater, Where’d you go Bernadette

Richard Linklater’s adaptation of Maria Semple’s 2012 best-seller doesn’t make a smooth transition to the screen.
Semple’s anarchic, non-linear story revolves around an affluent, if eccentric, middle-aged woman who submerges her identity with that of her family, losing her sense of self. On paper, her daughter’s inner thoughts propel the narrative. On-film, this doesn’t work.

Reviews

WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE – Review by Lana Wilson-Combs

August 13, 2019August 19, 2019 Lana Wilson-Combs 0 Comments Cate blanchette, María semple, Richard Linklater, Where’d you go Bernadette

In Director and Screenwriter Richard Linklater’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette,Cate Blanchett stars as the title character, Bernadette Fox, a well-respected Los Angeles architect who was on top of the world until a series of unfortunate events turned her life upside down. When Bernadette unexpectedly disappears from home, her husband (Billy Crudup) and young daughter, Bee (Emma Nelson) set out on an exciting adventure to find her, while Bernadette does some soul-searching of her own.

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Women’s Week: Girlhood, Oscar’s Curse, and Herzog Hits on Women – Cathryn Atkinson reports

February 12, 2015June 8, 2020 Cathryn Atkinson 0 Comments Boyhood, Lorelei Linklater, oscars, Richard Linklater, week in women, werner herzog

Does multiple-Oscar contender Boyhood unintentionally demean girls? Current buzz points out that Richard Linklater’s epic tale explores the bright future

Commentaries General Archives Movie of the Week Reviews Women on Film

AWFJ Movie of the Week, July 7-13: BOYHOOD

July 7, 2014October 11, 2014 Sandra Kraisirideja (Archived Contributor) 0 Comments anne brodie, Boyhood, Ellar Coltrane, Ethan Hawke, leba hertz, Lorelei Linklater, maryann johanson, Patricia Arquette, Richard Linklater

Opening July 11, the AWFJ Movie of the Week is Boyhood, writer-director Richard Linklater’s audacious, groundbreaking feature. Filmed over a 12 year span with the same cast, the movie presents snapshots of family life—birthdays, vacations and family dinners—backed by a soundtrack that captures the recent cultural milieu with tunes from Coldplay to Arcade Fire. This film’s unique portrait of growing up opens a door for personal introspection unlike any film before. Read on….