Jeux d'enfants

This may be one of the best French films I have seen in a long, long time. In many ways it reminds me of Berliner's "Ma Vie en Rose" (and not just because this film also uses Zazie's brilliant rendition of the Piaf song). It has much of the same Pierre et Giles aesthetic that made the other film so memorable and the child actors also display a similarly remarkable complexity that is so rare when they are usually depicted in film.

Very rarely does a film have the capacity to surprise me this much - either with the usually predictable storyline or when trying to understand the character's motivations etc. But this film continually had me reeling when trying to get a grip on it and, in the end, just when I thought it was a predictable love story...!! For this reason alone I found it a most remarkable film and I would strongly recommend seeing it.

This film will not appeal to lovers of mainstream American cinema - it is too intelligent in the way it challenges our usual expectations. We usually expect to finish watching a film and have no questions - to have everything wrapped up nice and neatly so we can get on with our lives.

If you do not want to suddenly find yourself asking "Pour quoi?" a week later or waking up with the haunting refrains of the unique renditions of the Piaf song in your head, then I would suggest you rent a more predictable movie.

However, if you like being alternately surprised, delighted and haunted by a unique film and wonderful soundtrack - check this one out.

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

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?

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-)