In a would-be layup to his terrific Blue Moon, Richard Linklater returns with a love letter to filmmaking in Nouvelle Vague. This meat-and-potatoes biopic covers the making-of Jean Luc-Godard’s Breathless, which would become a staple of French cinema’s Nouvelle Vague (the New Wave) movement.

As a film critic for Cashiers du Cinema, Godard (Guillaume Marbeck) stews in pent-up jealousy as he observes his peers and their filmmaking aspirations. Though content with criticizing but itching for a challenge, Godard finally gains the security and support to make his first feature film. Jean-Luc acquires actor friend Jean-Paul Belmondo (Aubrey Dullin) as the film’s co-lead and nabs the impressive inclusion of American actress Jean Seberg (Zoey Deutch, reuniting with Linklater nearly 10 years after Everybody Wants Some!!), but abides by his own set of rules that go against how a film shoot is usually scheduled and followed. He believes in authenticity, but also can’t help but make his cast and crew nervous, frustrated, and confused. Seberg often states how odd the production is and rants to her husband (Francois Moreuil), who is trying to be a good partner but also keep her attached to Breathless. The 20-day shoot goes on casually, sometimes having days cancelled altogether because Jean-Luc is searching for inspiration….or something to eat.

Blue Moon played towards Linklater’s strengths as a filmmaker with an ear for dialogue-driven plot. Nouvelle Vague, on the other hand, couldn’t be more Linklater-less (and I’m including that random remake of The Bad News Bears). Working with a surprisingly simplified and straightforward screenplay by Holly Gent and Vincent Palmo, Nouvelle Vague provides an entertaining throwback to a different era of cinema (complete with uptight attitudes and snide comments). Audiences who live vicariously through the stages of a film production via movies like Nouvelle Vague will be delighted. Cinephiles will also enjoy the cameos from other artists, even if the appearances are brief. As for everyone else, maybe they’ll like Godard’s dry wit; or maybe they’ll be annoyed by the director like Seberg was.

Outside of Godard’s filmmaking dramatized for the movie, Nouvelle Vague doesn’t teach audiences anything else about the period that can’t already been seen, and approved by, the viewer’s eyes. Much like the Godard in the biopic, Linklater has a one-track mind and achieves his main goal by tuning out most of what surrounds his story.

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Addison Wylie: @AddisonWylie