Les beaux gosses

(2009) The French Kissers/ Les beaux gosses (In French with English subtitles) DRAMA/ COMEDY

Co-written and directed by Riad Sattouf that center on teenager. Hervé (Vincent Lacoste) and his best friend, Camel (Anthony Sonigo) both of them hoping they too are able to"french kiss" with some of their female peers as well. And as soon as one of them realizes Hervé wanting to do this. That she was only doing it to lead him on. And then down the line, one of them does want a serious relationship with him, her name is Aurore (Alice Trémolières) to which they start out as friends and she invites her and her single mother to a party.

Although, the subject matter is reminiscent to "American Pie" movies somewhat because their are some humiliating situations, I did not find many of the scenes sometimes pointless and unfunny. The ending was somewhat satisfying but was not enough to save the entire movie that left me with some unanswered questions that was never addressed.

In kanopy, it's the french kissers, but en france, les beaux gosses, which loosely translates as the hot guys. Vincent lacoste is hervé, a student in paris. He tries so hard, but nothing is going right. Including his love life. So when aurore invites him to a house party, it's kind of a surprise. It's a coming of age film. She may be more experienced than he, so it gets pretty awkward. Life is all about timing. And learning. And making mistakes. It's pretty good. Nothing too new here, but we've all gone through the pains of growing up. Co-stars alice trémolières and anthony sonigo. Directed by riad sattouf. He also directed lacoste and sonigo in "jacky in the kingdom of women" in 2014.

This destined for cult status flick is essentially a French American Pie or Superbad. It has pubescent boys obsessed with sex, local girls who said lads have no chance with (or do they?) and uncomfortable situations aplenty. It doesn't do anything overly original, and the story arc is predictable, but that doesn't matter. It is bloody hilarious. Sure, it has patches of unfunny areas, but when it hits the mark you'll be cackling until tears roll down your cheeks.

The awkward moments – like the boys getting caught perving on a neighbour - draw out a chuckle here and there, though the real hearty laughs are primarily induced from the smaller, subtler parts of the film benefitting from the nuanced comic performances delivered by its young, pimply cast. Vincent Lacoste makes Herve a naturalistic and relatable adolescent whilst Anthony Sonigo is more over-the-top as his ultra-libidinous mate Camel. There is also a side-splitting turn from Noemie Lvovsky as Herve's unabashed mother who has an unseemly, yet surprisingly never disturbing, interest in her son's sex life. The bit where she witnesses Herve snogging for the first time is one of many highlights – her reaction is completely and utterly priceless.

Writers Riad Sattouf (who also directed) and Marc Syrigas deserve plenty of credit too; their script has some undoubtedly memorable dialogue and interactions. A canteen scene where an inexplicably-cool blind boy chats up a naive girl offers one of the finest pick-up lines put to celluloid. Not to mention the deadpan reactions from Herve's group when they hear the school bully has died. It are these moments where the film shines and makes you forget about its numerous faults - the cultural differences to Australia make for some oddities – elsewhere in the movie.

A guilty 90 minutes indeed.

3.5 out of 5 (1 - Rubbish, 2 - Ordinary, 3 - Good, 4 - Excellent, 5 - Classic)

First off, let me point out that this movie is by no means a french halfassed version of "super bad" (which I do love)or "American Pie", not that this movie is better (well actually it is way better than "American pie"!), it's just different, it's almost documentary style, but not as much as "The class", by the end of the movie, which is quite wonderful, because it miraculously mixes the bleakness of men's condition and the natural optimism and resilience of a young man who knows he has his life in front of him, you care for the characters, you hurt with them, way more than in American movie I've seen recently about similar subjects. I think the reason why is the sincerity of the director, who tackles every subjects, such as every day racism, misogyny, masturbation, the relationship between a adolescent and their parents, with a candour that would be deemed unacceptable by American audiences, anyway I guess. So this movie is extremely funny, the hero even has a Micheal Cera quality to him, but with less mannerisms, and it's impossible not to identify with the two main characters. So in conclusion,it is both a funny, beautiful and deeply nostalgic film about the transformation of a child into a man, if you will. Try not to miss it, but unless you live in France...well, wait for the DVD then !

I just saw this at the Traverse City Film Festival. If your idea of "funny" is watching adolescent, pimply French boys jerking off into their socks, please feel free to attend.

The protagonist is immature, unlikable, and just plain MEAN. He dismisses a girl who has the temerity to ask him if he wants to go out by calling her a "cow" and walking away laughing at her, leaving her in tears. The callousness of that scene is never redeemed. That is just an example of the loutishness in this film that passes for humor.

I gave it a 4 only because of the impressiveness of the female lead. Other than her screen time, don't waste your time.