It’s always important to separate the artist from the art – unless of course the subject in question is completely irredeemable – but the enthusiastic seven-minute standing ovation to have greeted Johnny Depp and his comeback movie Jeanne du Barry at the Cannes Film Festival hasn’t exactly been reflected in the first wave of reviews.
Anyone who spent even a bit of time on the internet during the actor’s high-profile legal proceedings opposite ex-wife Amber Heard will be fully aware the Pirates of the Caribbean veteran retains a massive amount of backing, but that doesn’t mean his career is right on the cusp of a phoenix-like rise from the ashes.
Nobody was expecting Jeanne du Barry to achieve that feat given its relatively low-key status as a French-language historical drama, but the initial reactions have indicated that it isn’t even all that great as a standalone work of cinema, regardless of Depp’s presence in a supporting role.
That’s not to say the film won’t find a massive audience whenever it becomes available for the entire world to see – especially when Netflix has already swooped in and struck a deal for distribution in many key markets – but it could be a sign of things to come for Depp’s career.
He’s never going to be the A-list megastar he once was, and he may not even make his mark in mainstream Hollywood again, but there’s always the chance he can rehabilitate his reputation with character-driven turns in smaller projects, regardless of how they fare among critics.