Beating Hearts

If my kid read this review she would certainly kill me. Jokes apart, for French teenagers, "L'amour ouf" (Breaking Hearts) is indeed an upcoming cult film which could be compared to "La Boum" (The Party - 1980- with Sophie Marceau).

The gangster part and the story of revenge in the background can't mislead us: it's first and foremost a love story, a typical teenage film with all the ingredients it usually features : romance, heartbreaks and struggle for love.

For sure, the director has put a lot of himself in it (music, cinema references, memories of intimate scenes, telephone booth's souvenirs...). This being said, it does not stand out for its originality yet, a little bit for his style. However, it's a film which does not withstand an adult's critic especially when it comes to analyse the verisimilitude of its plot and the good (or bad) taste of its filming .

I don't want to lash out at Gilles Lellouch who is a fantastic actor, who looks like a humble and good person, and who is, after all, a decent director as "Le Grand Bain" (Sink or Swim), his previous film prooved us. "Breaking Hearts" on the other hand, is way more personal, but way less funny than his previous film and way more pompous. Don't get me wrong. It's entertaining but it never ever approaches a cult or a very good film as the director inteneded to. It becomse a problem because you can clearly tell that the director wanted it to be something big, you can clearly tell he has put a lot of effects, a lot of money for something too pompous to be good. Too much for the style, too less for the content and the credibility of his story.

Gilles Lellouch is very "heavy-handed" when it comes to gangster scenes, bunch of friends' scenes and love scenes. I personnaly think he has litterally copied some scenes from La Haine (Hatred), Dirty Dancing or West Side Story. And the same thing happens when it comes to dialogs (the sentences, the phrases used are very...very written). At the end, you may reckon it does not reach the standard of a cult movie, and clearly never ever approach a master-piece . You might even wonder if it was really worth 32 billion budget.

Despite being a cultural phenomenon here in France from which tik tok and social networks have cashed in, "Breaking Hearts" remains an average film done with heavy manners, heavy effects and classic tools (insisting 90's music, close-up and travelling).

In spite of the astonishing cast and the very expensive effects, something does not work. I think the director relies too much on the weight of his stars, the weights of his words (the very written dialogs that most of the time fall short) and too less on the power of the story or the input of supporting roles. Apart from Alain Chabat and his touching role as a widow father, the supporting roles are not to be remembered (and it has nothing to do with their performance because Vincent Lacoste for instance is brilliant as the "vilain"). THe supporting roles are most of the time irrelevant to the story, and quite trivial. Quite a pity .

At the end, you may end up fed up with all these cichés as if Gilles Lellouch intented to give his audience what it was expecting.

In addition to this overdose of music, there is what I would call a very personal depiction of the 80's-90's , or even an americanization of the 80's-90's which seem cool (it's fun to be brought back to theses memories with the recording tape and fake phone calls), but growing up in a small town in France in the 90's was not like the film pictures (bunch of black friends, pupils taking an americanized bus to go to school and wait on car's roofs). I am afraid to say that I don't believe it. It's fake. The family relationships are manichean as well (a beaten child stopps school and no one says nothing to him), the adventure scenes are very gendered (the girls hold their nose when they dive whereas the boys make a backflip), and basically everything from beginning to end is very classic (the bad kid climbs up on old cars and beats up adults despite being weak and skinny).

The discovery of the rising stars Mallory Wanecque and Malik Frikah could make you forget all this cliché mania for a while. In fact, the first act is quite brilliant. This incandescent love is very well pictured in a classic style though. You expect a beautiful ending to it (you can't wait to see Adèle Exarchopoulos and François Civil from whom you expect to bring something new, more modern, after 12 years of gap in the plot).

The problem is that it is stricly the contrary that happens. François Civil and Adèle Exachopoulos bring NOTHING new, their performances are almost held back... with less intensity than their younger counterparts.

The story lacks sense in the second part of the film. Besides the megalomania of the director is over represented to emphasize the love, the fate and the beauty of the main characters. Gilles Lellouch makes long (too long) scenes focusing on their faces. Adèle Exachopoulos's first scene (that happens after one hour of film) says it all: dancing on a trendy night club dance floor by moving her head with sensuality and touching her untied hair.

Clichés, solid cinema references, and a great soundtrack, this is what this film is made of.

All in all it looks like the perfect recipe for teenagers, a cheesy gift offered to them with no limit over the budget and two fantastic picks (that's for sure): (way better than the famous stars of this film !): Mallory Wanecque and Malik Frikah. Hats off for their two performances.

I was so excited about watching this movie directed by Gilles Lellouch and casted with Adele exarchopoulos and Francois Civil who I really appreciated. There is every ingredient there to make a French Bockbuster but they missed it. The first part is far too long to set the scene of their young lives and love. After a while we wonder if we did not access the wrong projection room. Plus we start feeling the frustration for not having seen any of Adele and Francois after an hour. If this 1st loooong part was intended, the movie should have been in 2 releases. Because I do think, although too long, it was a good one.

The second part of their adult life is not credible in many aspects and not enough exciting. I found the adaptation of the script rather weak. Plus I did not feel any connection with this reunion love story. As to the end it was too easy. It's a pity as I feel we missed here the opportunity here to have a great movie.

Well done to Mallory Wanecque as Jackie and Malik Frikah as Clotaire young who offer a great performance.

This movie is all style, no substance. It's an over-stylized, visually creative crime romance that somehow manages to be both emotionless and painfully cliché. Sure, there are some striking scenes that momentarily wowed me, but as soon as the movie ended, I forgot all of them. Why? Because for visuals to stick, they need to be tied to strong characters and meaningful story beats. They also need some level of consistency and repetition instead of just being random one-off moments scattered throughout the film. That said, these creative visuals do keep the movie from being boring, even as it drowns in clichés.

François Civil, Adèle Exarchopoulos, and their younger counterparts, Malik Frikah and Mallory Wanecque, all give solid performances, but I couldn't bring myself to care about their characters or their love story. They're just walking stereotypes-defined by a few traits, but not fully realized as people. Clotaire claims he ended up the way he did because of his rough upbringing, but the film never really backs that up. Jacqueline (Jackie) starts off clever, but her intelligence is quickly forgotten and never plays a role in the story. Her father, supposedly a kind and wise figure, never really impacts her life in any way. I guess he's just there to contrast Clotaire's unloving father and justify why she doesn't get involved in crime? That's it? Easily some of the worst character development I've seen in a while.

The themes are somehow even more cliché and uninspired than the characters and story. It tries to be about young love and its (in this case, meaningless) lifelong impact, but that doesn't land due to weak character work. Then, it throws in commentary on the economy, unemployment, and the bureaucracy of full-time jobs. It sprinkles in themes of female agency and family dysfunction. But none of these ideas actually resonate because they aren't built on strong storytelling or compelling characters.

At its core, this isn't a movie about themes, characters, or even the story. It's a movie about flashy visual creativity and tired genre tropes thrown in just for the sake of it. Sure, the cinematography and production design are impressive, but without the right characters and story, they don't land. I assume some of these shots will end up as shareable clips on social media, and honestly, that's where they work best. Watch it for the visuals-just don't expect anything more.

Gilles Lellouche's near 3-hour epic crime romance adventure is quite ambitious. For Lelouche to explore some interesting themes about crime, angsty, love, and the extremely energetic tone, it's an accomplishment of French cinema in this current times.

Lellouche does offer some great aspects about it's concept. The strong performances, beautiful colorful production, tone, and camerawork really helps establish the environment, tone and setting. Unfortunately, what prevents it from being an epic masterpiece is the writing and structure. Oftentimes, Lellouche applies too much into the narrative. It's clear what the story is wanting to express and there are some pretty good aspects about it. But with a narrative that feels unnecessary stretched out and having characters that don't feel too emotionally connectable doesn't do much service to what Lellouche would have wanted.

I do appreciate some of the ambitious take Lellouche does. The fact he was able to capture the time period perfectly and have a good pacing does show the passion. But it's style over substance moments ends up over staying it's welcome. Realistically, this movie didn't have to be near 3-hours.

Or something along those lines - so no pun intended. The bad boy syndrome ... you have it here too. And you have to suspend your disbelief for a few things so the movie can work in its entirety. The old he isn't that bad - I can save him route - is our character right this time? There are some indications early on where this might lead - question is if love can move anything and if so ... how much that would be.

This tells us the story in three different timelines and we are having a bit of a back and forth. That said, it not a frantic back and forth. Also get your mind out of the gutter - this is a love story ... with some violence in a different area ... if no one believes in an individual ... well he won't believe in himself either.

It is often on the verge of cliche, but never really falls off or flat. It works quite nicely - and the actors are the ones that make it work. You will always disappoint some people with the way your resolve or "end" things, but I think this chose the best way to go ... in all ways imaginable that is. A movie for almost everyone - drama baby, baby drama.