Welcome To New York review: Gérard Depardieu is 'mesmerising' in this tawdry film

3 / 5 stars
Welcome To New York

GERARD DEPARDIEU is back on mesmerising form as a Dominique Strauss-Kahn-type financier and sex addict in a powerful but lurid film

 Gérard Depardieu plays a politician who spins out of control due to his mammoth sense of entitlement[PH]

Director: Abel Ferrara

Starring: Jacqueline Bisset, Gérard Depardieu, Drena De Niro

Cert 18; 125 mins

It pains me to say it but Gérard Depardieu has become a bit of a laughing stock. His Russian citizenship and improvised urination on a plane have gathered much more attention than any of his recent films.

If nothing else, Welcome To New York is a reminder of what a fearless performer Depardieu can be. They may have changed the names to protect against litigation but this is very much the story of Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s indiscretions and one man’s relentless abuse of power.

Wealthy financier and indefatigable sex addict Devereaux (Depardieu) considers himself above the law, acting without regard to decency or discretion. In New York, he forces himself upon a hotel maid and his world briefly crumbles when he is held for questioning and wife Simone (Jacqueline Bisset) rushes from Paris to his defence.

This is not a comforting tale of how the mighty are brought to their knees but a lurid wallow in one man’s sense of entitlement.

Depardieu is uncompromising in his depiction of the physically and emotionally naked Devereaux as a loathsome monster governed by his appetites.

He is mesmerising but the film is tawdry.