Western

A surrealistic story of two credible typical men with a tendency to loneliness, which is made even more intensive through chance events, to meet, and then, despite their dissimilar characters, proceed to get to know and like each other even though the circumstances of their first encounter are extremely inauspicious. Sergi López, playing the Catalonian Paco Cazale, and Sacha Bourdo, playing the Russian Nino, do not put in brilliant acting performances, but they are sufficiently good to convey the pathos in their roles, which becomes more apparent as the film progresses.

The women they meet all behave credibly, but the sum of all the encounters is so unrealistic as to appear nonsensical, even with the anchor of a picturesque background of rural western France and many of its aspects. This surrealism, or irreality, is mercifully not nearly as pronounced as in 'Buffet froid', and is even somewhat entertaining, but it detracts from the otherwise fascinating character studies of both the two travelling companions and the various people they meet.

The double date and the game of 'Bonjour, la France' are highlights in this film, but many other scenes are also of good quality and entertainment value. These two scenes and the survey scenes are particularly well acted.

The dialogue reminds the viewer of the announced purpose of the journey and the event which one can expect when the two men return. When this stage is reached, a characteristically unexpected turn leads to a refreshingly unexpected but unfortunately unrealistic conclusion.

Good ideas and good dialogue are woven rather weakly into a rather good story.

This is probably one of the worst French movies I have seen so far, among more than 100 french movies I have ever seen. Terrible screenplay and very medioacre/unprofessional acting causes the directing powerless. with all that it doesn't matter how nice western french scene and fancy music can add to the story.

One of the key weakness of this movie is that these two characters do NOT attract people, as an audience I don't care what happens to them.

It amazed me how this movie won jury prize in cannes, man, I love almost all the awarded movies in cannes, but not this one. A major disappointment for me.

'Western' shows all different walks life can have in store. Two immigrants, a Russian and a Spaniard, travel throughout western France. Not only the landscapes look a bit British, but also the dialogues and characters remind of British movies. The scene shot on a terrace with an Ivory Coaster from Bretagne is very funny. But other scenes show how senseless life can be.

I like road movies and this one of the best movies in its genre.

With such a great concept as two guys hitching around France seducing women and getting into various scrapes, you'd wonder how you could go wrong, but despite its moments, this comes across as a rather half-baked affair, of interest mainly due to some impressive acting and the way they've made use of an obviously miniscule budget. The main problem is in its arbitrary plotting, which consists of a number of lengthy sequences, the majority of which seem to have no evident role within any larger narrative arc, and at times seeming like they are just there to make up time. Some of these scenes are impressive in their own right (the double-date dinner party, and the game of 'Bonjour a la France'), but it soon becomes apparent that the film is going absolutely nowhere. That's not to say that the scenery along the way isn't impressive, and the repartee between our two protagonists is generally amusing.

Poirier's film is as good a study of loneliness as anything you're likely to see. (PT Anderson's Magnolia is on the same level.) Nino's search for love is heartbreaking and, the film uses all its various scenes to underline how loneliness affects everything the characters do. The men wander, but the film doesn't.

Western is gentle, delicate, and touching--and manages to avoid any sentimentality. In other words, a rare gem.