Artois the Goat

Quirky charm is no substitute for heart and soul in Artois the Goat, an award winner on the indie festival circuit out now on DVD. The film by the Bogart Brothers concerns the connoisseurship of artisanal cheese and the romantic tangles of young professionals separated by divergent aspirations and job opportunities. Worthy topics to be sure, yet the characters and plot are handled with tongs of too-precious irony. Aside from some lovely scenes and dry humor, the strength of Artois the Goat is not so much its story but its non-Hollywood storytelling, based on clever visual cues and the voiceover of a dead author.