Les apprentis

"Antoine" (François Cluzet) and his younger pal "Fred" (Guillaume Depardieu - anyone else think he's the double of Julian Sands?) live together in a glorified squat struggling to put a lettuce, or a tomato, on the table. The former fancies himself as a bit of a playwright but is amidst a fairly long barren spell; the latter - well he's a bit of a charming wastrel who is content to lie in bed all day as they both dream of their girlfriends, real or imaginary. Finally, they run out of what cash they did have and with eviction looming large they decide to rob the offices where "Antoine" works. That just proves to be a typically cack-handed affair for the pair, but also one that sees them rumbled by his bosses and facing a rather unique form of retribution - it's a martial arts magazine! Needless to say, this causes a bit of difficulty between these two men as depression soon hits "Antoine" in quite a potent fashion. Luckily, the boys have "Lorette" (Marie Trintignant) on hand to help steer them through this emotional maelstrom just as "Fred" succeeds in getting himself involved in a ménage-a-trois! Sure, it's all a little contrived and the scenarios do seem to go from frying pan to fire with predictable regularity, but there's a convincing and enjoyable dynamic between the two men here that the witty, quite near the bone, script does much to augment. In it's way it is quite an affecting love story depicting an inter-reliance based on a genuine fondness between two people whom you might reasonably think would do better apart. It hits the ground running and provides us with quite an entertaining observation of their lives that's well worth an hour and an half.

This story, simply and deeply magical, about these two friends who share a poor life, breath love, friendship and learning of life.

Francois Cluzet and Guillaume Depardieu are sensational all along the movie.

Cluzet is outstanding, he clearly knows that his life goes nowhere, he fears turning nuts, he's so funny...Depardieu is more naive and naturally optimistic, he's like a lost child, always between ground and clouds....

The movie is full of both realistic and burlesque humor...you cry and laugh at the same moment...simply magical and touching.....I love the Director, Pierre Salvadori, who touch your soul in every movie he makes...

For many reasons, one of my favorite movie ever....

A couple of dead-beats living together in a friend's flat find out that they're going to have to move out. Now they have to get hold of some money, and sort out their love-lives while they're about it.

Basically a buddy movie, but with some absolutely brilliant moments - made me laugh out loud several times. I won't describe what creates these scenes, since it could spoil it for you, but I would definitely recommend it for anyone who can speak French or read the subtitles (as I did).

9/10

Les Apprentis is a moving saga of two impoverished friends.Antoine and Fred are unfortunate in all stages of their existence.Their financial lives are completely ruined.They are not at all lucky with their emotional existence as their girl friends have left them.What is interesting for the discerning viewer to watch is their peculiar camaraderie that allows them to go ahead in their lives despite numerous ups and downs.Pierre Salvadori has effectively created a tender tale of emotional calamities.He has elicited excellent acting performances from his entire cast.Guillaume Depardieu is splendid as gawky photographer Fred.Les Appentis takes a bizarre twist towards the end when neurotic Antoine tries to hide his emotions from Fred.It is impossible to find a parallel to this film in an array of cynical tradition of French Cinema.It easily brings to mind Claude Lelouch's Robert et Robert.The impressive soundtrack is capable of enlivening gloomy spirits.The strength of the film lies in the fact that it gives viewers ample time to make their own judgments

Nice characters, funny and witty, that movie offers us a nice time. Not a bit pretentious,, this is not a great movie, but it is well made, well acted and show a good complicity between the 2 main characters.