20 anni di meno

..there's a lot going on in this quirky-cute, little ninety minute rom-com... actually is a fan-com (fantasy comedy).. because there's absolutely no way in any known universe where the likes of this incredible 'woman' would be completely unattached, and be hooking up with this 'kid'.. it's a charming but totally predictable script, with an ending that holds true to form, but the film does work because of these two lead characters.. especially Virginie Efira.. she is a bona-fide star, and there's not one scene in the movie when she's on-screen that you can take your eyes off her.. she's just gorgeous.. and has acting talent to go along with her alluring beauty..

The plot is formulaic and predictable for a romantic comedy, except with the interesting twist that this time the two leads have a purportedly 20-year age gap.

I will say that, perhaps because I don't understand Portuguese (I saw a Portuguese dub) and the subtitles weren't of good quality, the dialogue and situations didn't seem to be as bad as they would be in a typical US production. Although maybe that's just up to the novelty of it and it comes from a uniquely French tradition.

What really makes this a compelling film and worth watching, though, is the direction and performances of the two leads. The woman who plays Alice very skillfully conveys a career woman being assailed on all sides and practically shoved into having a relationship that someone in her position in real life would consider absurd, but then coming to develop ambivalent feelings toward the teenager she's forced to spend time with. Now, the romance isn't very well-developed - there's never really any reason for her to be attracted to Balthazar: neither fetish nor dashing confidence nor extreme attractiveness nor skill with women on his part. However, his female counterpart does look like someone whose emotions for the boy germinate despite her logical mind trying to pull away in the opposite direction. It's an internal battle conveyed in half-forced smiles and sighs of half-repressed frustration.

As for the Balthazar actor, he seems to be brimming with attraction and hope toward this older woman. At least on his side, it's a realistic portrayal - an attractive woman unexpectedly gives him the time of day and he does his best to please her, coming to grow attached in the process. It may have been the lighting, but the scene in the auditorium with his eyes twinkling as Alice crushes him slowly was powerful.

Highly enjoyable, to say the least.

Honourable Mentions: Down to You (2000). Boy falls in love with girl but girl wants to devote herself to fun and career. Another pretty decent story about a young man in love with an amivalent woman.

A light comedy (so what are the heavy ones? Probably the ones that end badly!) That works, well one might say because it's French. In fact, as Italians, it is impossible not to think how an Italian director, perhaps of the new generation, perhaps of the age of Moreau (evocative surname), born in 1976, would be treated as such. Long premise to say that romantic-sentimental comedy goes well with the French cinematographic tradition, a little less with the Italian one, with few exceptions, more aimed at comedy. However, the film holds up, in the staging, in the acting, in the musical commentary ... and, perhaps in a pandering way, in the finale. And in the end it puts you in a good mood, which is no small feat!

This movie is a perfect example that theese relationships (younger man - older woman) can work. For me, this movie is a solid 10. Awesome acting from both of them and you can really feel the romantic vibe between them. For me this is the best romance movie of this type that i ever saw!

20 ans d'écart is the prototype of the not fully achieved French comedy, where the premise is rather interesting but doesn't go the distance.

Indeed, the script first sets in a very efficient and rather dynamic way the base of the plot, with a few touches of humour perfectly spicing up the dialogues. But unfortunately, the more the movie goes, the more you realise the writers didn't quite know where to go. The pace drops, the lines become less incisive, and the story struggles to get a second wind until the happy ending.

Overall, the movie is too conventional and doesn't exploit enough its comical resources. The characters lack depth but the duo of actors works well even though Niney overacts a bit, probably due to how his character was written.

Everything isn't to be thrown away therefore, far from it, but with a little more ambition, this could have been a good to very good comedy.