De Carona para o Amor

Great actors, interesting plot. I just saw it in French ( I am studying it) and besides being great practice, it was also entertaining!

I REALLY enjoyed this one! Smart, funny, beautiful images, and with a big dose of the somewhat popular French movie's craziness. I saw it on the cinema and people laughed and cried and sometimes even laughed and cried at the sometime. LOVED IT.

Here in France, Franck Dubost was known as an actor in nonpretentious movies, and I was not expecting much of this one. But as an author & director he shines! ___ The scenario breaks new ground: handicap was taboo in movies - in France just as it is in Hollywood. The film covers the subject with sensitivity, avoiding the obvious pitfalls. ___ Actor Franck is better here than his usual self; but the stellar performance is by Alexandra Lamy: energetic, empathic and beautiful. Elsa Zylberstein gives a good performance in a small part. Claude Brasseur & Gérard Darmon do the job. ___ Overall a good movie, eminently watchable.

Jocelyn (Franck Dubosc) is a 40-something and boss of a firm dealing with well-known brands of sportshoes. His business is in Paris, but to suit his lifestyle he lives in the suburbs. He's a man that you without many problems could call shallow, searching for women all the time, but preferably just for one night stands. One day he receives a phonecall from his brother Lucien (Laurent Bateau) saying that their mother is dead.

Arriving late for the funeral talking with Lucien who recommends that he visits the house of their mother to see if he can find anything of interest. He arrives at the house, and sits in his mother's wheelchair as a guest arrives, it's the young, good looking, neighbor Julie (Caroline Anglade). She's a handicap assistant, and because of the wheelchair, she thinks that Jocelyn is handicapped. Julie invites him for a trip to her family in the countryside in the coming weekend. Jocelyn stays in the role as a handicapped person, counting on an affair with Julie. But she has other plans, she wants to introduce him to her sister, who "also" is handicapped and wheelchair user. Arriving to the family home, of course in the wheelchair, he meets the sister Florence (Alexandra Lamy). It's not really love at first sight, but they agree to meet again. Jocelyn desides to bring his two, only, friends to the dinner date. Firstly it's his secretary Marie (Elsa Zylberstein) and secondly his doctor Max (Gérard Darmon).

Now, what probably never have happened before he, against his will, falls in love. Florence is very glad to have met Jocelyn. They are talking together much easier this time, and he finds out that she plays tennis and that she's playing the violin in a well known orchestra.

First Jocelyn secretly watch Florence play tennis, buy through circumstances they meet again. They're now really start liking each other. So much that he travels to Eastern Europe to attend one of her concerts. Of course still in his mother's wheelchair. Jocelyn's biggest problem is now, how to tell Florence that he's not handicapped!

This French film is very well performed, right down to the smallest part. The actor/singer Claude Brasseur has a small part as Jocelyn and Lucien's father, in one of his last performances. The film is directed by Dubosc in his debut in directing.

It's a very good film, takes you to a good laugh to a tiers.