Jacqueline Argentine – Review

Jacqueline Argentine is a difficult movie to define. Walking out of the theater, many will wonder whether they just witnessed a good movie or a bad movie. A few people may even contemplate if it’s an actual movie at all. In any case, pretty much everyone should be able to agree that Bernardo Britto’s feature-length directorial debut offers a unique experience. While it will annoy and frustrate some, others will appreciate Jacqueline Argentine for its refreshing narrative and offbeat sense of humor.

The film is lead by comedian Wyatt Cenac as a nameless director. He spends a majority of the runtime behind the camera, providing commentary in his monotone voice. The focus of his documentary is Jacqueline Dumont (Camille Rutherford), a free-spirited young lady who apparently exposed a Middle Eastern assassination conspiracy. Along with an armature crew, the director ventures to Argentina where Jacqueline is seeking refuge. However, it quickly becomes evident that this mysterious Frenchwoman isn’t everything she’s cracked up to be.

The conspiracy Jacqueline is connected to turns out to be something of a conspiracy in itself. While she remains an enigma throughout, Jacqueline is more than likely a pathological liar who’s making everything up. Given very little to work with, the aspiring filmmaker is forced to center his picture on a fool’s errand. Along the way, he comes across a few more eccentric characters, including a man who claims to have thousands of DVDs. A trip to his rat’s nest of a house is a particularly hilarious highlight.

This mockumentary is somewhat reminiscent of Catfish, which followed real life photographer Yaniv “Nev” Schulman tracking down a love interest he met on the Internet. Once he came face to face with her, though, Nev didn’t get exactly what he expected. In Jacqueline Argentine, neither the audience nor the director knows exactly what they’re going to get. Then once they finally pull back the emerald curtain, they essentially find nothing.

Perhaps the best way to describe the film is a joke without a punch line. Of course one could argue that the punch line here is that there’s no a punch line. There are many meandering moments where it almost feels like we’re simply being trolled. When all’s said and done, however, the director does manage to raise some intriguing questions about art, storytelling, and life. Even if he doesn’t necessarily provide answers to these questions, he does provide the audience something worthwhile to think about.

In some respects, Jacqueline isn’t the true focus of this movie. It’s more about the director and his desire to make a movie. Around every corner, though, he just keeps hitting another dead end. Yet, even when the director comes up short, you can see that he’s trying every step of the way. Any artist can identify with his passion and seemingly hopeless pursuit to make something out of nothing. Whether or not that equals a good movie may be up for debate, but for those with an acquired taste, Jacqueline Argentine is a wild ride with a surprisingly stimulating destination.