La boule noire

This kind of stuff seems to have been made for saturday evening home audiences, certainly not destined to movie theaters. It is very well acted, made, convincing. The director is a vet film maker for such material. Bernard Campan is so engrossing in his role. It sounds so real, authentic, and it's not a stupid, silly comedy, senseless story to amuse, entertain housewives or the whole family eating chicken. It is not a thriller but only a drama, which French Tv industry have the secret. The recipe for this kind of tale is to be close - and not closed - to daily life, close to normal people. That doesn't make you dream, but at least it is believable. That depends of what the audiences seek.

This is a very good movie that touches on a myriad of social issues that have probably impacted our lives at one time or another.

The two main elements of the story line pertain to the lead character. He has an almost desperate desire to be accepted into an exclusive club of prominent business members. You can sense a bit of a chip on his shoulder in regards to the status symbol this club membership means to him. The second element revolves around his estranged relationship with his mother. She is an alcoholic who lives alone, and she only sees her son occasionally on holidays. He lives about two hours away with his wife and children. This seems to be by design as to his fear of what the "prominent" members of his "circle" may think of him.

The main character has everything going for him. He has a successful career, a loving family, a nice home in an affluent neighborhood, a good school for the children. The only thing he doesn't have is happiness.

There are good performances from everyone especially the lead character and mother. This really is a very good movie. On an ending note I much more prefer subtitles than voice over as is the case here. I find that most English voice over attempts fail miserably.