19) Deerskin
Narcissism has rarely looked this funny and this intense. Quentin Dupieux’s latest surreal outing sees him a tad more restrained, but with the absurdist comedy more impactful than ever. The story sees a drifter, George (Jean Dujardin), going on a strange adventure at the direction of his recently purchased sentient deerskin jacket. The movie highlights George’s narcism and obsession with his jacket to an outlandish degree. The film is basically an expansion of the business-card bit from American Psycho, with a few interesting twists and turns along the way. Jean Dujardin’s commitment to creepy desperation carries this movie confidently. As I haven’t seen him much since The Artist and that one-off appearance in Wolf of Wall Street, he’s a welcome presence. After seeing him in those films, and the OSS 117 movies, I didn’t realize creepy and schlubby was a card in his deck, and he plays it very well. This movie was hilarious, and anyone looking for skilled absurdest comedy should look no further than this film.
