Um Homem Fiel

When I started watching this movie my first impression was 'oh, another pain & angst love story'. But after !5 minutes into the film I was hooked and had to see it to the ending.

There is a sudden and unexpected statement from one of the main characters that captured my attention at about the 15 minute mark and I was hooked on what was going to happen to Abel, Marianne, Eve, and Joseph!

This movie will leave you guessing and wanting more at the end. Louis Garrel did a superb writing/directing/acting job here and kudos to him!

I like romantic French movies, they revolve around the dynamics of relationships not in a 'rom-com shallow' way, at least most of the time. This movie is no exception - the plot is believable, I can imagine it happening exactly the same way in real life.

Acting is also good, pace is perfect - the movie is 75 minutes altogeher -, nothing is too dramatic or cheesy. Well done!

Second movie as a director for Louis Garrell, and (as in Two Friends) he pays tribute to the cinema that made him the director (and actor) he is today. The only problem is (for me) the conclusion of his movies, always quickly solving the good intuition of the start. His love for love triangles and ironic ways to talk about love disasters is a signature, and I wish he will be able to end a movie the way he knows how to start them.

Louis Garrel's lightweight drama initially seems like a vanity project for its writer, director and star. Nine years on from a brutal break-up, his endearingly ruffled Abel finds himself in a love triangle with the widowed Marianne (Garrel's real-life spouse Laetitia Casta) and LilyRose Depp's obsessive Eve. But skipping spryly between romantic comedy, reflective character piece and gentle farce, it surprises by putting its two women firmly in charge, leaving its assumed lead as little more than their bemused plaything. At just 75 minutes, it breezes by, though Casta's wily turn lingers beyond the credits.

On the face of it, this is just a simple romantic comedy. The three leading characters all engage in a bit of swapping and sharing and somehow you just know that's not going to be much of a recipe for success! . The writing has all the depth of a puddle and there isn't much unpredictable for us here. It does, however, have something about it - there is a dynamic between them and the plot is oddly believable in a mischievous sort of way. It makes for a perfectly watchable hour and a quarter, and leaves you afterwards thinking if perhaps you could suggest your partner were to go live with someone else who fancies them.... Perhaps not!