Aline Dieu comes from a large family- by large, I mean she is the youngest of fourteen children. Growing up, Aline discovers she has a wonderful singing voice and performs at selected family events. Thanks to the support of her mother and family, Aline is eventually introduced to a music producer named Guy-Claude while still a teenager. At first, when Guy-Claude hears a demo via a cassette tape, he struggles to believe that the voice on the tape hasn’t been tampered with to make it sound as good as it does. After an invitation to meet and sing, Aline brings tears Guy-Claude’s eyes with her voice.
As an adult (played by Valerie Lemercier), Aline begins to travel worldwide with her voice and her love of singing. But the path for Aline includes conquering multiple challenges along the way. Challenges include matters with her family, possibly losing her voice, and Aline begins to have deep feelings for her producer Guy Claude. But when Aline reveals her feelings, Guy Claude is ever so distant due to the age difference between the two.
For those who are not aware, Aline is a whole new story best described as an unofficial biopic from the life of Celine Dion. Nothing here is necessarily accurate to Celine Dion’s life, but some true minor elements are based on the well-known artist. Those who love Celine Dion will certainly find this feature most entertaining, especially as Aline features some well-known tracks from the artist herself.
Aline is a feel-good drama movie. It’s a woman’s journey who wants to be a star and wants more from life. The film delivers many moments of randomness, which I found humorous and chuckled at multiple times. The romance aspect is the stronger element when discussing the plot. Costumes are certainly praiseworthy, and there are multiple moments where the lead actress here does look like a twin to Celine Dion.
However, as a film, Aline is quite odd, especially when it comes to the first act. For example, when we are introduced to a much younger Aline, the filmmakers decided to use an adult’s face/head and place it on a younger body or CGI to decrease her body size to resemble a child. While I understand what the film was attempting to deliver, it instead feels highly unfitting and strange to watch. Right at the start of this film, the leading character looks out of place due to the CGI.
The pacing here is also questionable. While the film’s start was generally off-putting, I found myself more engaged when watching Aline discover stardom and perform on stage with her talent. However, Aline’s voice has obviously been dubbed when she sings, and the character begins to go through several challenges, which are common when watching any type of biopic. Some of these include Aline falling in love, dealing with her family, wanting a family of her own and, naturally, health concerns. While the film isn’t based on true events, I still couldn’t help myself from questioning throughout if what I was watching was even remotely true to the life of the artist Celine Dion. In the end, I found myself distracted by this question. Perhaps if this fact became known later in the film, I might have been more engaged. The third act and ending are weak, and as the credits rolled, I felt quite unsatisfied, plus I was left with unanswered questions and another musical number.
Overall, while Aline tells an uplifting journey with fun, quirky or romantic moments, it also has moments that are forced and cliché. The pacing is significantly up and down, radically changing from something exciting to something that’s dull and predictable. The choice to use an adult head for the younger portion of the back story in the first act is also an unwise choice. Considering the film is an unofficial biopic of the life of Celine Dion, I hoped for something far more touching and heartfelt.
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