Prête-moi ta main

I love love. I'm a sucker for romantic comedies and as of late, I've been on a foreign film binge. Enter stage left: I Do. While undeniably predictable, the film has its charms and throws in some obstacles I didn't expect and found myself smiling as I watched it unfold.

However, my main concern was the lack of chemistry between Luis and Emma. There were no looks of intrigue, scarcely any playful banter between the two - for the most part, their interaction seemed to be simply what Luis intended it to be - a business interaction. Perhaps I'm terribly picky, but I found the leap between the conspirers' platonic relationship to romance to be a sudden leap rather than one with a bit of a build up. In that case alone, I was mildly disappointed.

But with that aspect aside, the actors do do a good job with the script they're given. Luis's family, although somewhat irritating, are simultaneously charming and overbearing and I warmed up to them in the end. I really think the men need a bit more screen time as they were hardly in it and my favorite scene (the scene with the M6) happened to be one of their few. The wedding comes too quickly for my taste, but with a few more scenes to build character relationships, this film would've been a knock out. So not bad, but not exactly the best film either.

There wasn't a dry eye amongst the audience yesterday afternoon after I left the cinema, having seen this gem of a film in a sold-out house as part of this year's Hamburg Film Festival. And the tears shed were all of laughter. This film was hilarious, there's no other way of saying this. There wasn't one boring bit in it, I laughed right through it and with me everyone else of us three hundred lovers of French cinéma.

Alain Chabat was absolutely terrific. A great clown if needs be and serious if the situation calls for it. The performance was of course completely over the top, but this was exactly what the story needed and what made it work so well. Equally great was Charlotte Gainsbourg who I love to see a lot, and the mother was also a very strong performance. The sisters could have been a bit more detailed in character script-wise, but apart from that there is nothing to moan about. I had a great afternoon seeing this film while Hamburg was drowning in rain outside, and I wish films like this from France would get a regular release in Germany. But the distributors is this country don't seem to understand that the French make good films. I at least can't wait to find a DVD which offers subtitles (Hello Australia? Please?) because that film I need at home to watch several more times!

First this movie (with its ending) is a formula comedy romance but well done. European movies often take a standard American fare (Doris Day Phone Game or Emails) and add 15 IQ points and stretch it out in a way that leaves you guessing a little---which over all is a much more satisfying experience. Europeans are also a little more cynical and the Hollywood moral nanny= never can a bad guy get away is not a wall they won't cross.

The ending seals this as stock kitsch/comedy but getting there had a lot of twists and good writer(s). I didn't find the main actor so great as the other reviewers did---he is too clownish rather repelling looking. One of my great puzzlements is why the French for less than handsome actors?? If you speak French the shocking bad language of the female actor makes it especially funny.

It so much the luck of the draw--I have Netflix streaming and they don't have most of the famous or popular titles...it is always a gamble. This one paid off.

If you want another good comedy try Mid August Lunch. It is totally unique and much better---or The Big Picture (in US) by this same director which is much better than this film. Well much higher production values and thriller story I like.

RECOMMEND

"I Do: How to Get Married and Stay Single" is an extremely funny film. I really enjoyed watching a family try to control a 43 year-old's life. It seems to be such a foreign idea that a family would go through such extremes but makes for a great movie. I also enjoyed seeing how the director and scene writers decided to make the main character use his heartbreaks as encouragement for a career. The fact that he was able to channel those feelings into making perfumes that reminded him of the women who broke is hear was incredible.

The director in this movie, Eric Lartigau, brought his skills from working not only as a director but also as a former co-writer, assistant director, and actor to this movie. Though he was more involved with directing TV series, his knowledge brought him great success in this movie. Following this film, he continued with his career and got nominated for a Cesar Award as Best Adapted Screenplay for the movie "The Big Picture."

This movie brings up the involvement family members have in each other lives as well as the extremes people go through for their families to back off. These ideas seem to be the most interesting because they are working against each other. On one hand, Luis (the main character) is trying to get his nagging sisters and mother off of his back in finding a wife because they are just annoying him while all they want is for him to have a wife to be happy and do things for him. It is a bit of a Catch 22 because you want your family to be happy, but at what expense? Will you nag them to death because you think it is best for them? Hopefully not.

The setting of this movie was very modern. It gives the audience a great full view of their lives. It made the movie more believable and realistic by having such a broad and diverse setting throughout the film. It shows multiple sections of the office wear Luis works as well as his house, mother's house, etc. I also think Lartigau did a wonderful job in directing. He also got the actors feel believable. By the end of the movie, you feel a sense of a connection with each person. You feel exactly how they do and grow a sense of respect for each character.

Alain Chabat claims this movie as his original idea but the theme of reluctant lovers who finally get it together is as old, if not older, than Shakespeare.

Chabat is a "vieux garcon", happily single and not wanting any member of the opposite sex to disturb his life. He has a problem, 5 sisters and a matriarchal mum - the G7 - who decide he should be married. Enter the delightful, charming Charlotte Gainsbourg and what should be a simple plan. Charlotte has to pose as Chabat's girlfriend and then simply not turn up on the day of the wedding. No more talk of marriage from the G7. Of course the best laid plans have a habit of spiralling out of control.

There are very strong supporting roles from Lafont as the mother and Osterman as the tight-fisted brother of Gainsbourg.

There are some fantastic scenes as first Charlotte has to charm, then revolt the family. French farce with an English.