Atrévete a amar

Yann Samuel and Antoine Roch the DOP have tried very hard to mimic Jeunet's 80s 90s style (green photography, digitally enhanced ultra-swift camera tracking etc...) which all came from the French TV advertising trendy aesthetics of the 80s. And achieved nothing but an irritating flick. Jeux d'Enfants contains nothing you have not seen before. You wish filmmakers had turned the page... No. The whole "stylish" shooting is so much in your face that it prevents you from following the ultra slim story line. The actors are good (Canet and Cotillard have proved elsewhere that they can act) so what's so wrong and phony about Jeux d'Enfants? You have to look towards the director, who must value photography and camera moves more than actor's direction. What about the script? As often these days, the concept is the whole thing (Open Water, Phone Booth etc...): short and easy to market. What about the spectator who's paid his ticket? Is there anything left for him? Like life, emotions, tears, joy, fear, laughter? Nope. He's been conned. The dialogs are not funny. They're actually incredibly sloppy and vulgar (an 8 year old girl saying "blow job" to her teacher is tasteless and not funny, if not completely unrealistic). The story is unbelievable, and the characters are heartless. No emotions, no depth, no fun. Sheer vulgarity. With color grading gone bad. A talentless caricature of wannabe trendy French cinema. Thank God there are films about youth like Billy Elliot who talk to one's heart, eyes, brains and soul...

To understand "Love Me If You Dare", one must harken back to childhood when fondness translated to teasing. So it is with Julien and Sophie, the central characters of this film, who in childhood become fast friends because of a game they share (or visa versa) which involves one challenging the other to do something outrageous while passing a gayly decorated candy canister to them. Upon completion of the dare, the canisters is passed back and the dared person announces "Game!". And so it goes, back and forth, as the children grow to adolescents and then to adults with the brinksmanship and friendship becoming increasingly substantial and the ubiquitous canister the ever present reminder of their unspoken bond. Finely crafted though sometimes disjointed, this creative work is full of life and energy and passion and its ever escalating story is maddeningly captivating and unsatisfying as it waxes toward its inevitable and somewhat clumsy conclusion. A love it or hate it audience dividing flick, "Love Me..." can be appreciated on as many levels as it can be condemned. The only way you'll know if you like it is to watch it. (A-)

Two children start an odd game of outdoing each other with limitless dares and stunts, but as they grow into adulthood their stunts become more dangerous and life threatening. Soon enough they realize that their continuation of the game had been a desperate attempt to hide the fact that they were meant for each other. Right away this film starts off in a dream like state, giving us the sense that we're really watching a school play put on by 4th graders. The mood is very light and playful and goes along with the child like innocence of Julien and Sophie. As the two characters mature so does the directing (for lack of a better phrasing). No longer do we feel like we are in the dream of a 10 year old. Reality settles in and eventually the mood in the film becomes very dark and almost depressing. I loved everything about this movie: the plot, the actors (and the chemistry between them) but most of all the directing. I liked the way Yann changed the mood in the film to match that of the character's ages. 9/10

It will make you gasp, laugh, cry, scream, sing, and love. This is the greatest comedic love story I've ever seen on the silver screen. You will never forget this movie, from its playful beginning to its OMG-what-just-happened ending. For those of you who don't speak French, you do not need subtitles to understand the beauty, the depth, and the tragically hilarious love affair of Julien and Sophie. The movie will take you to every extreme of human emotion and leave you completely breathless with its UNBELIEVABLE ending. I was so entranced by the film that I sat there through the entire end credits, hoping for just a little more. This is a movie you cannot miss...it is one of the greatest films to be made in France. Watch it....I dare you. Are you game or not?

I totally loved the experience of this movie... and the conceit of "the game"!

BUT what I really liked IS questionable... these were perhaps the MEANEST characters I've seen in a film who WEREN'T "bad guys" in years!

That said... THAT'S what I loved! These characters were completely selfish... withholding their feelings from each other for fear of being hurt... but then taking it to another level by dragging innocent bystanders into their game (through marriages that are PART of the game)...

Without giving away too much... what I liked about watching this movie unfold is what Hollywood never allows-- sometimes people just suck!

And the movie IS stylish too!

Yay!

Michael Carlin