Stars: Judy Davis, Julian Sands, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Ralph Brown, Anna Massey, Anton Rodgers, Anton Rodgers, Anna Massey, George Corraface

Director: James Lapine

Summary: Two lovers, female author George Sand and composer Frederic Chopin, are drawn together by an unnerving bond despite the efforts of those who would have them part company.

An exploration of the relationship between female writer George Sand and composer Frederic Chopin. Sand (Judy Davis) who dresses up as a man, becomes enraptured by Chopin (Hugh Grant). Life becomes rather amusing when Sand shows up as an unexpected party guest at the royal mansion of the Baron and Baroness d'Antan. Here she encounters not only Chopin and friends Liszt and Delacroix, but lover Felicien Mallefille and the man of her dreams, Alfred de Musset.

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There are Victorian country-house shenanigans aplenty in Impromptu: novelist George Sand (Judy Davis, affected but pretty charming) has eyes for Franz Liszt's young protégé Chopin (Hugh Grant, solid as always, but burdened by a silly Polish accent and a script that never lets him stretch out), but various lovers, jealous rivals, and Chopin's own overdeveloped sense of propriety conspire to confound her. Impromptuis witty but overlong--probably 20 minutes of hijinks and repartee, not to mention several completely gratuitous and redundant characters, could have been sliced from the film.

Davis plays Sand as an impetuous, overgrown tomboy, outraging her genteel hosts by wearing pants, chomping cigars, and falling off horses; her coterie of artist-friends assure us, in a series of naked plot devices, that she nonetheless has a heart of gold. It's all good silly fun, and about as feminist as your average Def Leppard video--the other two developed female characters are ugly stereotypes: a featherbrained, feckless social climber (Emma Thompson, who once again proves she's up for anything) and a spiteful, back-stabbing shrew (the ever-capable Bernadette Peters). Director James Lapine clearly belongs to the Dr Quinn: Medicine Womanschool of historical accuracy, so don't expect to learn anything about the period or the artists themselves. --Miles Bethany

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Year:	1990
Release Date:	March 1, 2004
Runtime:	103 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	10001027
Keywords:	General, Impromptu, Drama
Genre:	Drama