Boogie Woogie

A clever satire on London’s art scene? What a treat. But no – what we get with this slick, shallow and flesh-adoring adaptation of Danny Moynihan’s NYC-set novel, transposed to London, is a limp series of caricatures, hysterical scenes and an overloaded plot that suggest its makers cared more about packing the frame with names than getting the characters and comedy just right. And what names: Danny Huston, Gillian Anderson, Heather Graham, Alan Cumming, Christopher Lee, Amanda Seyfried, Stellan Skarsgård, Jaime Winstone and Simon McBurney all appear. It’s a giggle at times. Huston is louche as a Jay Jopling-like art dealer trying to get his hands on a Mondrian; Anderson amuses as a scene-obsessed collector; and Cumming is shrill as a wannabe curator-manager rejected by a self-obsessed video artist (Winstone) once she finds success. But well-connected, first-time feature director Duncan Ward (his wife is a top curator) throws too much mud too fondly for any to stick. Art world aficionados will have a jolly time identifying the characters and tut-tutting. Others will just tut-tut.