Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Here is the story of a beautiful French singer in the unenviable position of needing to wait two hours until learning the results of a dire medical test.I was reminded of the classic short story "The Lady or the Tiger" as I spent the time with her, wondering whether she would live or have to face her demise.This film is refreshingly improvisational as we wend our way through Paris as Cleo (Corinne Marchand) visits a tarot-card reader, a café, her own apartment in which she rehearses a song with a pianist played by "Parapluies de Cherbourg" composer Michel Legrand, an art studio where her friend poses nude, and, finally, a park in which she converses with a soldier on leave from Algeria (Antoine Bourseiller).Marchand is gorgeous here, wearing everything well, from her sexy dress or housecoat to her wig or triangular fur hat. The camera adores her. Rich and gifted, she is also impoverished because her lover (a suave Jose Luis de Vilallonga) speaks lovingly yet will not truly give of himself. And, of course, she is potentially facing a very premature death.Cleo demonstrates bravery as she passes the time, occasionally navel-gazing, growing maudlin, and even boring us a little. (Who among us wouldn't do the same in a similar situation?) Cleo's repartee with Antoine as the film draws to its close is endearing and compelling. One even wishes that the drama could have started with the pair, but that would have been a different film.Truman Capote is credited here with writing the dialog, and I wonder whether he did so in the original French. If so, I'm impressed.In all, this was a powerful experience.

Cléo (Corinne Marchand) is a pop singer who wanders around Paris while she awaits her medical test results. As Cléo readies herself to meet with her doctor at 7 o'clock, she meets with several friends and strangers while trying to grapple with mortality.I love how the film starts with color tarot cards, then switches to black and white. This in itself is a stark contrast, but then so is the black with the white. Sometimes color film cannot capture the difference as well, and for that reason I think the right choice was made here.What is the deal with the art students? Or the kid in the street playing the toy piano? Those people are quite confusing to me, and seem to be important though I cannot imagine why.The film is noted for its handling of several of the themes of existentialism, including discussions of mortality, the idea of despair, and leading a meaningful life. The film has a strong feminine viewpoint and raises questions about how women are perceived. The role of mirrors are prevalent to symbolize self-obsession. I did not gather all this from watching, but only after from reading. This in itself is cause for a second viewing.The director, Varda, is known for her views on feminism and particularly abortion, so it is not strange that this film is feminist. Though, like I say, I did not really catch that. Aside from having a female lead (which is rare enough, I suppose) there was little that made her stand out as a "strong" woman...

This remarkable feature typifies all that was good in French film-making during its celebrated New Wave. Writer/director Agnès Varda (one of the unsung stalwarts of the period) constantly introduces the unexpected into both the central story and its many diversions, cinematographer Jean Rabier's images of Paris are fresh and uncomplicated, and the performances are cleverly stylised. Beneath her cool exterior, Corinne Marchand as Cleo manages to convey a range of emotions, whether worrying about her medical tests, chatting with strangers or singing with Michel Legrand. Watch out for a film within the film, featuring Jean-Luc Godard and other New Wave luminaries.

Cleo form 5 to 7, is a poignant tale of a young singer, who must face her own possible mortality before she is ready. The film starts with Cleo visiting a fortune teller's office, where we find that, Cleo who is waiting for the results of a doctor's test, will experience a major life change soon. Unknown to Cleo, the fortune teller speaks in an aside to the audience, and predicts that Cleo has cancer. This film which runs one and a half hours, and literally spans one and a half hours, is basically a journey that Cleo takes. It is in the moment that Cleo faces her deepest fears that she realizes she has no true friends. Scared of her possible test results, instead of spending the time with friends and family, she spends it wandering around Paris, and with a soldier on leave. Neither her companion, lover, friend, or producers, can understand what she is going through. Cleo may at first choose not to burden her friends with her problems, but the longer she tours Paris the more she realizes that a true friend would be there with her, she wouldn't have to worry about annoying them with her problems, and she would know that they would always have an open ear for her. It is as she walks around a park in Paris that she meets a young soldier on leave who will be going back to fight soon. To Cleo, although it may seem as simple as pouring her problems onto a man she will never have to see again, if she so desires; she is really unconsciously choosing this stranger over all the people in her life. She may subconsciously believe that the soldier know what it is like to be scared and alone, and may believe that he will best sympathize with her problems, since he too has felt fear, as opposed to her other friends, who basically live the golden life.