Coco Before Chanel

I finally got to see this movie! But, I am saddened to write that I was disappointed. The movie starts off with Coco, Chanel's nickname, and her sister being carded off to an orphanage by their father. Then, the movie suddenly jumps to Chanel and her sister working as seamstresses and part-time bar singers at night. It is there that she meets an army general who helps her break into the top echelon of French society. When the general moves back to his castle near Paris, Coco decides to pay him a surprise visit and welcomes herself to stay at his castle. The movie had a lot of potential but fell short of being the masterpiece it should have been. I was hoping to see the story behind one of the first feminists and breakthrough artists of all time, instead I got a flat story of a woman who sojourns (well, more like squats) in the general's castle. I understand that the movie is about Coco before Chanel, but the director could have shown more about Coco building an empire and becoming an independent woman when "great" women were not independent. A lot of the movie could have been cut. I know that she was helped and she builds connections by becoming the "in-house geisha." The love story between her and "Boy" was really important and perhaps helped metamorphose her into the genius she was, but that could have been shortened as well. This movie should not have been named Coco Before Chanel, but instead Chanel's only Love. I don't recommend that you go out to the theaters and watch it, but instead wait for the DVD to come out. Or better yet, wait until it comes out on cable, then you won't be upset you had to exert any effort to watch it.