L'amour ouf

The first part, with the kids, is pretty good. The film should have ended there for the sake of audience. And Gilles Lellouche would have directed one of the best French teenage romances of the decade.

The rest of the movie, the second act, is horrible. The actors François Civil and Adèle Exarchopoulos lack chemistry together, their acting in this movie are bland and without compromise. I suspect both actors should start rethinking their own careers in French cinema once the two newcomers Mallory Wanecque and Malik Frikah outshine them and steal the show in this confusing mediocre movie.

At first it seems the movie strikes as a modern take of The Count of Monte Cristo .. I mean the old story of the wronged young rebel guy who returns for revenge and the search for his loved one. However it falls out with exaggerated and caricatured toxic masculinity. A stylized and tacky male gaze. And in the half and end of second act the plot ends up losing credibility.

The problem, beyond the burden of everything, is the strange determination that the film shows in claiming originality in each shot it offers without achieving it even once. Every time it comes to deciding,it always opt for the most formal, the most obvious. What we have already seen. And so, it repeats, for three hours of the closest thing to a French blockbuster, with a good marketing and PR behind it, it is that the French audiences are going to see this year.

Original scenario. Lellouch did really great with this movie, one of the best scenario and movie of the year. Great Nostalgie starting from the opening font style. Picture, music, image all other the movie is a great memory of the 80s and 90s.

The "kids" are playing very well, looking forward new movies, they are to become great actors. I was a bit afraid of Exarchopoulos as usually I don't really like her but she does pretty well on her scenes which are pretty made for her. Chabat is obviously great as the GOAT he is, i remind me of Didier at the start for thise who know, you'll know. Civil is perfect in the role, this dark style fits him very well.

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.

The film is very long and pretty uneven between its first part when the characters are teenagers and the second part, ten years later.

The acting is really good. The young actors are fresh and genuine. Adele and François are top. Alain Chabat is a big teddy bear and as usual, you want to punch Benoit Poolvoorde.

The musical background really sets the 80's tone in small industrial French town. Mostly British and American songs but so grounded in the era.

You end the film with a smile on your face.

It is not the best film of the year but a beautiful crazy passionate love story. Despite being uneven, you follow Clotaire and Jackie all the way.

The movie is about 3 hours long with some mediocre acting here and there (im talking about Malaury and Malik here, he at least has some interesting and entertaining scenes and actually resembles the acting done by his older self) but besides that the cinematography, done by Laurent Tangy, the music selection the story, the shocking scenes, the charm and warmth of certain scenes, the atmosphere, honestly make this movie a special and unique experience, if you have a significant other go watch it together, it ups the experience a whole lot more. The fact that i saw this movie with my girlfriend really increased the experience.