Impromptu

Directed by Sondheim collaborator Lapine, this tells the romantic story of Bohemian cross-dressing novelist George Sand's protracted pursuit of Chopin through salon and château, variously foiled and abetted by Liszt (Sands) and mistress (Peters), Alfred de Musset (Patinkin) and Delacroix (Brown). Driven by a quest for perfect love, Sand (Davis), though knee-deep in an operetta of rejected lovers, hears Chopin pelting at the piano through a door and is a goner. Given that the sick stick of a Pole is played by Hugh Grant, her passion seems inexplicable, and the only scene that convinces has the novellist lying aswoon under the piano as the soundtrack pours it on. The acting comes in different sizes: in contrast to the naturalism of Davis - heiress to the Jeanne Moreau Estate - stands the high camp of Emma Thompson as the Art-struck Duchess, and the swashbuckling of Patinkin. A longish haul.