Lolo - Giù le mani da mia madre

Rather amusing this story of a son who confuses his mother's lover with terrible blows. Benign but which degenerate. A case of divorce(s). It reminded me of comedies from the 70s.

I've seen Lolo before. A young man raised by a single mother does not like it when eligible suitors comes sniffing around his MILF. So when a IT tech becomes his mother's love interest, Lolo stops at nothing to break these two apart.

The french version of this story starts out as just a young man talking crap to convince his mom that this man is not right for her. Then it escalates to the extreme when Lolo makes The IT tech his victim. That's were the comedy comes it as well.

It's not different from an American comedy in how it escalates, except that the this french film realizes it does not need to got too over the top with the comedy to be laugh out loud funny.

If you ever seen such movie as Cyrus or Mr. Woodcock than you'll like this movie. It's the same style of comedy.

One exception is the focus on the perspective of Julie Delpy's character, Violette, a 40 year old woman who still in the dating game looking for love. I seen the movie done from Lolo's perspective as the selfish son who will do anything to keep the cord attached to his mother, and I've seen it from Jean-René's perceptive as a man dating a woman too good to be true, and then discovers she got some baggage she loves too much too see as baggage. Violette's view does bring some freshness to the movie.

It was a subtle comedy, at least by American standards, but it is very effective.

Greetings again from the darkness. The old saying "opposites attract" is on full display in director and co-writer Julie Delpy's latest, as she offers up a twist on the French farce by adding a dark undercurrent. Additionally, the film addresses the personal and societal challenges facing women in their 40's who are successful in their career, and who also hold out hope for finding true love.

Ms. Delpy also stars as Violette, a germaphobe divorcée who works in the fashion industry in Paris. The film opens as Violette and her best friend Ariane (Karen Viard) are deep into girl-chat while hanging out at a spa … each annoyed that they are without a soul mate that would complete their lives (or at least fill the sexual void).

After dumping a freshly caught tuna in Violette's lap (as they meet for the first time), and then informing her that he understands she's not his type … you know, since she is a lesbian (which she is not) … Jean-Rene (Dany Boon) re-groups and begins charming her with his grounded and simple nature. These two form a cute, but odd couple of opposites and seem to very much enjoy each other's company.

Things start to get confusing for the couple when her 19 year old son Lolo (Vincent Lacoste) begins his (initially) subtle clandestine activities designed to break up the couple. Soon enough we realize this wannabe artist goes well beyond typical passive-aggressive activities, and straight into full-on psychotic mode with Oedipal tendencies. His psychological warfare against Jean-Rene slowly builds from childish antics, to deceitful and devilish scheming, to downright criminal … all with a sense of black comedy for us viewers (can't say the same for Jean-Rene).

Other movies such as "Cyrus" and "We Need to Talk about Kevin" have dealt with the mother-son relationships ranging from creepy to dangerous, but Delpy's movie always hits us with a dose of laughter when it's needed. The use of the movie classic "Village of the Damned" (1960) is especially spot on as Violette and Jean-Rene continue to plug away as a couple … even when it's obvious to us that 3 is too many for a healthy relationship – especially when one could be a reincarnation of Damien from "The Omen". The perfect ending reminds us that no one beats the French when it comes to a farce; even when the darkness is sprinkled on a bit heavier than usual.

Violette (Julie Delpy) is a 45 year old modern Parisen high-powered fashion producer. She is divorced with teen son Eloi nicknamed Lolo. She can't find a good man anywhere and has given up. Her flirtatious friend Ariane pulls her into a spa vacation in the country. They meet up a couple of guys and she starts dating naive nice guy Jean-René Graves. He's also divorced with a child and little experience in dating. Outwardly, Lolo is chummy with JR but secretly, he's working to sabotage the relationship.

Anything with Delpy is elevated by her presence. She needs a charismatic lead to be her opposite. The character may be bland but the actor shouldn't be. Lolo's evil ways are funny at first but the ending turns too dark. As the director, Delpy needs to maintain the tone better than that. Lolo becomes less comedic and more psycho. This has Delpy and a little fun but not that great.

I'm a Julie Delpy fan, "Two days in Paris" is one of my favourite movies of all times. This film, however, is impossible to watch.

It's incredibly predictable, the humour is silly and you've seen all the gags in plenty of (bad) films before.

The storyline is not credible at all. Even if you're not looking for sophisticated humour, just want some slapstick laughs, this film is simply not very funny. I watched it in the dubbed version, maybe it's slightly better in the French original, although to be honest, I don't think so, given how bad the storyline and the jokes are.

The acting is OK, but it can't save the film.