Prête-moi ta main

Alain Chabat claims this movie as his original idea but the theme of reluctant lovers who finally get it together is as old, if not older, than Shakespeare.

Chabat is a "vieux garcon", happily single and not wanting any member of the opposite sex to disturb his life. He has a problem, 5 sisters and a matriarchal mum - the G7 - who decide he should be married. Enter the delightful, charming Charlotte Gainsbourg and what should be a simple plan. Charlotte has to pose as Chabat's girlfriend and then simply not turn up on the day of the wedding. No more talk of marriage from the G7. Of course the best laid plans have a habit of spiralling out of control.

There are very strong supporting roles from Lafont as the mother and Osterman as the tight-fisted brother of Gainsbourg.

There are some fantastic scenes as first Charlotte has to charm, then revolt the family. French farce with an English.

From the opening shots of the lead actor, we are given a early view on how so many mens lives are run by the women in them, and the humour that comes thru with all that goes on in the day to day of 'normal' life.

Eric Lartigau, the director picks up on how so many European men feel that they are in complete control of their lives, yet without the help/support of the women around them cannot seem to make things work. The use of facial image throughout the film is superb, and his clever positioning of the senior member of the family (mother) is spot on.

While there are more than enough laughs in the movie, it still deals with single parents/adoption and the strength of family in society. Truly rewarding to watch, and again one that only the French seam capable to make.

So far one of the best 50 or so Films I have seen this year, and well worth a five start rating. I look forward to adding this one to the DVD collection when it is released and highly recommend it to all ages.

"I Do: How to Get Married and Stay Single" is an extremely funny film. I really enjoyed watching a family try to control a 43 year-old's life. It seems to be such a foreign idea that a family would go through such extremes but makes for a great movie. I also enjoyed seeing how the director and scene writers decided to make the main character use his heartbreaks as encouragement for a career. The fact that he was able to channel those feelings into making perfumes that reminded him of the women who broke is hear was incredible.

The director in this movie, Eric Lartigau, brought his skills from working not only as a director but also as a former co-writer, assistant director, and actor to this movie. Though he was more involved with directing TV series, his knowledge brought him great success in this movie. Following this film, he continued with his career and got nominated for a Cesar Award as Best Adapted Screenplay for the movie "The Big Picture."

This movie brings up the involvement family members have in each other lives as well as the extremes people go through for their families to back off. These ideas seem to be the most interesting because they are working against each other. On one hand, Luis (the main character) is trying to get his nagging sisters and mother off of his back in finding a wife because they are just annoying him while all they want is for him to have a wife to be happy and do things for him. It is a bit of a Catch 22 because you want your family to be happy, but at what expense? Will you nag them to death because you think it is best for them? Hopefully not.

The setting of this movie was very modern. It gives the audience a great full view of their lives. It made the movie more believable and realistic by having such a broad and diverse setting throughout the film. It shows multiple sections of the office wear Luis works as well as his house, mother's house, etc. I also think Lartigau did a wonderful job in directing. He also got the actors feel believable. By the end of the movie, you feel a sense of a connection with each person. You feel exactly how they do and grow a sense of respect for each character.

First this movie (with its ending) is a formula comedy romance but well done. European movies often take a standard American fare (Doris Day Phone Game or Emails) and add 15 IQ points and stretch it out in a way that leaves you guessing a little---which over all is a much more satisfying experience. Europeans are also a little more cynical and the Hollywood moral nanny= never can a bad guy get away is not a wall they won't cross.

The ending seals this as stock kitsch/comedy but getting there had a lot of twists and good writer(s). I didn't find the main actor so great as the other reviewers did---he is too clownish rather repelling looking. One of my great puzzlements is why the French for less than handsome actors?? If you speak French the shocking bad language of the female actor makes it especially funny.

It so much the luck of the draw--I have Netflix streaming and they don't have most of the famous or popular titles...it is always a gamble. This one paid off.

If you want another good comedy try Mid August Lunch. It is totally unique and much better---or The Big Picture (in US) by this same director which is much better than this film. Well much higher production values and thriller story I like.

RECOMMEND

I love romantic comedies. I love French cinema. Charlotte Gainsbourg was fine in Claude Miller's La Petite Voleuse. But since then, her charmless personality seems to be the death-knell for everything she touches.

This is a theoretically fun movie, in which a middle-aged guy tries to get one over on his domineering family. And, being a romantic comedy, we know the way it's going to go. But Gainsbourg seems so affected as the hired-in fiancée, and so emotionally wooden, that even if she had the 'nichons' that her partner would have preferred (as I would), it is doubtful that she would have saved this forlorn if not totally lost film.