3 fois 20 ans

(2012) Late Bloomers DRAMA/ COMEDY

At the opening centers on an older couple of Adam (William Hurt) and Mary (Isabella Rossellini) residing London, England doing their routine thing. And after the two made out, it appears that Mary had suffered a short memory relapse, and had decided to have herself get checked out. It was then suggested by her doctorate friends that perhaps she should join on one of those exercise clubs to stimulate herself. And it was about that time, is when the Isabella Rossellini character begin to become annoying. It's when she start to make 'conditions' both for her husband as well as herself, to the extent of her husband quitting the job he loves of an accomplished architect, just so he can 'act' old as they should've been. And as soon as he refuses, they start to separate. And then it becomes this silly thing when their already successful grown up children, later finding out about their separation, putting their own careers on hold so that they can get their parents to go back together again. Narrow minded, much of the movie refuses to make the point that you're only as old as you feel. I think the movie did point it out at some point, but it didn't do anything to enhance the movie on any way. Maybe in London, England some older people, or retirees feel like, useless and stuff, but here in North America, it is usually custom to have parents of underage children being looked after by grandparents, since 1)parents are usually busy working in their jobs, and 2) having grandparents looking after their grand children saves parents money from babysitting costs, which this film for some reason refuses to address. I guess, it's because the parents got nannies to look after them.

We were very disappointed in this film. We chose it because of Julie Gavras' father (Costga-Gavras), who made the very special "Z." Although we did not think that a director's ability would be genetic we did hope that some of her father's bravery and awareness would be available to the daughter. How wrong we were. The movie has just about zero social content. At times it seemed to deal with aging and a man's difficulty in staying current in his profession (architecture). Yet Hurt seemed to be cold and uncaring and the people in his family never confronted him on this. He assumed the role of a stiff, unemotional man with great ease because relatively little is called for in this role. I was fairly well bored by his character. At other times the movie dealt with a woman aging and feeling that she was becoming less attractive. She tries to do something about her sagging flesh, then gets discouraged, then gets active again. Just as we are about to be drawn into this drama the film became a family burlesque before shortly turning again as the main characters drifted apart and then drifted back together again, without explanation or further character development. William Hurt and Isabella Rosselini deserve a better film with a better script and a more mature director. The film seems thrown together, rather poorly edited, and concludes abruptly with what seems like a capitulation to the American audience. The pleasures in this film are too few and too far between. Woody Allen's "Whatever Works" covers much the same ground with much more intelligence, good humor, and plenty of laughs.

Sorry folks but I fell asleep long before the end.

When I woke up my wife had changed channels.

So I would say this movie is hardly riveting.

Ok if you can stay awake !

Adam (William Hurt) is an architect struggling to find money for his latest project. He refuses to accept his aging. While his wife Mary (Isabella Rossellini) is trying to adjust. They are not getting along. And the grown kids notice the friction.

It's not a particularly lovable couple. That's my first impression. Nothing in the movie changed that impression. And the ending rang hollow. It felt like it came out of nowhere. I'm not sure if this was supposed to be funny. At least, I didn't get the humor. Rossellini fumbling with her pool noodles was head scratching. The movie really needs somebody with comic timing either in front or behind the camera. This movie had neither. I wish this was a better movie. The two great lead actors deserve a better movie. It just never gel. They really never got the chemistry right.

Great actors can make or break a movie. In this case they make the movie. A very light one, about getting old (as is suggested in the title of course). Still it's not like it is offering everything easily on the table and lets you have whatever it is you want. But the fact that it is shot digestible, makes it easier to watch.

And I. Rosselini (who was present at the Berlin International Film Festival, where the movie played) makes a good team with William Hurt. Both have problems (or issues) and try to resolve them. You might feel more for one of them based on your gender, but the good thing is, that it is not too black and white. Will certainly not appeal to people who like their movies to be fast, but if you like a good drama, you could do a lot worse than this ... :o)