Meanderings of a Film Lover

  With a very strong and likable cast, delivering witty and sometimes heartbreaking dialogue, you really do manage to feel for everyone.  Benoit Poelvoorde playing Etienne Balsan best exemplifies this, as you cannot help but enjoy every second that he is in a scene, even when he is being less than a gentleman.  I am never sure whether to give the writers or the actors in French movies credit for how well each character is developed.  It is probably a mixture of both, but the depth and humanity to each person is so much more than we usually witness in films made in the states.  I will say that while the characters and the acting was enough to make one enjoy the film, there was something lacking in the story itself.   It is a strange position to find yourself in when at the end of the movie you go, “That’s it?  That wasn’t even the interesting part.”  The film takes too much time in the beginning to take us where we need to get.  The opening scene should have either been completely cut or been expanded upon to have some sort of actual impact or importance to the rest of the film.  There is no need to show a scene when the character tells us the story of it three times in the movie.  The ending also leaves much to be desired, but that may just be me getting irritated with actual timelines and biopic timelines.  When you go on a journey with a character, seeing and feeling the sacrifices they make in dignity and in love, there is a part that feels cheated with just a nice little montage wrap up at the end. 

  The film is worth the watch for the complex and entertaining characters. I dare you to fall in love with each of them for their flaws and their strengths.  The film is beautifully shot and flows well from one scene to the next.  I feel that we would need a sequel to do the story real justice though.