The presence of Patrick Stewart fails to elevate the film.
Sir Henry Cole (Patrick Stewart, dubbed for the piano scenes) is a world-renowned classical pianist. Since the death of his wife, he is subject to panic attacks on stage to the point, sometimes, of making mistakes. It is in this context that the journalist Helen Morrison (Katie Holmes) meets him. She works for the New Yorker and offers to interview him. Reluctant at first, he finally lets himself go, overcome by the quiet charm of this gentle and attentive woman. From conversations to meetings to meals with friends, Helen and Henry develop a loving friendship observed with kindness by her agent, Paul (Giancarlo Esposito).
Some dialogue and scenes are on point and sensitive, with Henry philosophizing about music, life, career and age. Written by Louis Godbout (who will be found later this summer with “The cheaters”), the screenplay unfortunately sometimes gets lost in pompous and unwelcome reflections by Helen, thus detracting from the poetry and the credibility of the story. .
Filmed in part in Montreal by Guy Dufaux, the director of photography, and directed by Claude Lalonde, who signs his first film here, “Coda: life in music” benefits from the sumptuous scenery of the Alps, grandiose landscapes where we find Henry at the end of the feature film which we will not reveal anything.
The acting, both by Patrick Stewart and Katie Holmes, fails to free itself from a kind of stiffness that prevents the spectator from adhering to the subject. And we say to ourselves, according to certain sequences, that “Coda: life in music” would have made an astonishing novel.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
