‘Widow’ flouts death penalty

In Theaters

THE WIDOW OF ST. PIERRE. Directed by Patrice Leconte. Written by Claude Faraldo. In French with English subtitles. 112 minutes. Rated R.

In Patrice Leconte’s “The Widow of St. Pierre,” a gorgeous-looking film based on a true story that takes place off the coast of Newfoundland in the French colony of St. Pierre, it’s 1849 and a brutal murder has just been committed in which a man was stabbed repeatedly in the gut for allegedly being too fat.

If the reason for the murder sounds a bit harsh even by today’s cutthroat standards of what constitutes an unacceptably large waistline, it’s useful to know that the murderer was stone drunk when he hacked his victim to leaner shreds.

Now condemned to death via guillotine (also known as a “widow” in French slang), the murderer, Neel Auguste (Emir Kusturica), is faced with a peculiar situation: Since there are no guillotines or executioners in the foggy reaches of St. Pierre, the now sober and deeply remorseful Auguste must sit in a holding cell for several months while St. Pierre’s brilliantly inept magistrates work to ship in the guillotine from Martinique – and find an executioner.

In the interim, Auguste meets a dashing couple who profoundly affect his life – Pauline (Juliette Binoche) and her husband, Jean (Daniel Auteuil), an army captain responsible for Auguste’s care until the time comes to chop off his head.

But as this curious trio comes to know one another – and as the blindly passionate and idealistic Pauline quietly builds community support for saving Auguste’s life – his value as a human being comes into question. Indeed, as Pauline sees it, every man is capable of good and evil. When they slip – even if that slip involves a coldblooded murder – they’re nevertheless human and deserving of a second chance.

Working from a script by Claude Faraldo, Leconte uses the growing tension between the townspeople who come to love Auguste and the magistrates ordered by law to kill him, as one of the driving forces behind his film.

But just as powerful – and perhaps more interesting – are the scenes shared between Binoche and Auteuil, two superb actors who deliver terrific, restrained performances that become the soul of the movie.

Indeed, as Pauline fights for Auguste’s life, she knowingly puts her husband’s job – and his own life – directly in jeopardy. There’s plenty of irony in that, but Leconte wisely doesn’t offer his own comment on Pauline’s choices. Instead, he goes deeper – and leaves it up to the audience to decide whether those choices were reckless or absolutely right.

Grade: A-

On Video and DVD

MISS CONGENIALITY. Directed by Donald Petrie. Written by Marc Lawrence, Katie Ford and Caryn Lucas. 110 minutes. Rated PG-13.

“Miss Congeniality” stars Sandra Bullock as Grace Hart, a graceless, unkempt, ill-mannered FBI agent who goes undercover at the Miss United States pageant when word gets out that a madman plans to blow up the festivities in a decidedly uncongenial fashion.

The film, as directed by Donald Petrie from a screenplay by Marc Lawrence, Katie Ford and Caryn Lucas, is something of a bridge for Bullock – a good comedy that will go a long way in soothing those fans the actress lost when she made the monolithic mediocrities, “Speed 2: Cruise Control,” “Practical Magic,” “Forces of Nature” and the more recent “28 Days.”

In “Miss Congeniality,” Bullock does the right thing – she leans hard on her gifts for physical comedy while those around her – Michael Caine as a fussy pageant consultant, Candice Bergen as the pageant’s organizer, William Shatner as the pageant’s syrupy host – get laughs from the film’s witty script, much of which pokes fun at an easy target: beauty pageant contestants.

But unlike last year’s “Drop Dead Gorgeous” and “Beautiful,” two films that looked cruelly upon the sequins-and-tiara set, it’s a nice surprise to find that the jokes in “Miss Congeniality” aren’t cruel. Instead, they’re remarkably gentle. It’s as if Petrie and his screenwriters not only want to understand these women, most of whom live to raise their manicured middle fingers to feminism, but also to like them very much.

With Benjamin Bratt as Grace’s macho colleague, “Miss Congeniality” tosses in its share of beauty pageant cliches, but it’s nevertheless enjoyable, a film that’s at its best when it swirls around Grace’s funny transformation from tomboy to glamour queen, and when it focuses on Michael Caine’s understated performance as Victor Melling.

As a man brought in by the feds to give Grace a measure of class, Caine’s appearance does the same for the film. Indeed, in this feathery world of lip gloss, lacquer and liposuction, he gives the movie the balance it needs.

Grade: B

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays in Style, Thursdays in the scene, Tuesdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5” and Thursdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5:30” on WLBZ-2 and WCSH-6. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com