Sequel to "L'Auberge Espagnole" looks at young professionals trying to make it in Europe. ... 'Russian Dolls' toys with

When we last saw Xavier (Romain Duris), he was fleeing the security of a government job. That was at the end of Cédric Klapisch's "L'Auberge Espagnole," a quirky movie that through its characterization of flat-sharing Erasmus students in Barcelona put a klatch of cute faces on the European Union.

If "L'Auberge Espagnole" was an idealized version (Barcelona, jet-setty bonhomie, etc.) of a universal experience (college, finding oneself, etc.) which almost anyone can relate to, "Russian Dolls" captures the equally recognizable wall you hit later. The early-30s crisis certainly looks more tenable if it's unfolding among several European capitals, but the movie lacks the specificity and focus of the first.

Xavier begins the story at the end, as he returns to London from Paris by train. Then he immediately backtracks a year, through love affairs and piecemeal jobs, to explain how he got there.

Like its hero, the movie tends to dither, unsure of its next move. Xavier's indecision bleeds his ultimate decision of passion, and his shuttling among France, England and Russia feels more random than representative of the times. His bosses make one clever allusion to the new internationalism: "You're a victim of globalization," they tell him. It's a good idea, but the movie doesn't sell it. Xavier and his friends are too self-involved and their worlds too self-contained for that to be entirely true.

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