Les Petits Mouchoirs

This 'film choral' describes the relations in a group of friends in their 30-40s.

Like every summer, Max is inviting his friends to stay at his house by the sea. Unfortunately, a few days before the departure, Ludovic is heavily injured in a motorbike accident. This event is impacting the relations in the rest of the group...

This movie is pleasing thanks to the comedy scenes, such as the running references to the homosexual appeal of one the friend for another, which is very conservative and close-minded. Or the running gag about the love affair by SMS.

On the other hand, the emotional scenes were weak, and it was difficult to feel sympathy, sorrow or sadness. I think this is mostly due to the acting, which was not as good as required to express these very deep feelings. But it could also be a problem of film construction, as I really felt the emotional strings was overused, as a justification for the whole movie. Another point is that the large number of characters weaken the depiction of each's state of mind.

Finally, "Les Petits Mouchoirs" felt like a movie with some interesting ideas, but which were not selected and matured enough. The final cut is a too long movie, with a taste of unpolished scenario.

Guillaume Canet creates films (Tell No One, Whatever You Say, J'peux pas dormir..., Je taim) that though they are about love, loss and life, they probe more deeply into the human condition than the glossy entertaining surface can conceal. In the end all of his films demand that the viewer connects to his concept of the flow of life and death and those aspects of living that make a difference. Les petits mouchoirs AKA Little White Lies magnifies these attributes. The story is so conversationally written that for a while it is difficult to pull together where the film is going, but by the end of the film the audience is so choked by the discoveries revealed that tears and a stunned afterburn are inevitable.

Every year, Max Cantara (François Cluzet), a successful restaurant owner, and Véronique (Valérie Bonneton), his eco-friendly wife invite a their close-knit circle of friends to their beautiful Cap Ferrat beach house near Bordeaux to celebrate the birthday of Antoine (Laurent Lafitte) and kick-start the vacation. But, this year, before they all leave Paris, their mutual friend Ludo (Jean Dujardin) is hurt in a serious motorcycle accident, ends up the ICU and as the doctors say nothing can be done to change things for at least two weeks, the friends all proceed with their plans for vacation: no one stays behind to be supportive of Ludo, not even his apparent love partner Marie (Marion Cotillard). This sets off a dramatic chain of reactions and emotional responses. The eagerly anticipated vacation leads each of the protagonists to raise the little veils that for years they have draped over what bothers and upsets them. Pretenses become increasingly hard to keep up. Until the moment when the truth finally catches up with them all: each member of the group of friends has a problem that needs the support of real friends but none of them has the ability to share personal secrets. There are many concepts that are present here - one married man Vincent (Benoît Magimel) has an inexplicable physical and emotional attraction to Max who loathes the idea of a possible gay liaison; Marie is visited by an infrequent lover Nassim (Hocine Mérabet), Eric (Gilles Lellouche) longs to be reunited with the woman who has found another, Jean Louis (Joël Dupuch) awaits messages from his emotionally distant Juliette (Anne Marivin) - and so on. Yet each of these little situations confound Antoine who cannot believe this group would not stay near their critically injured friend Ludo. The consequences are revealing and point out the importance of owning up to the truths that define a life. To reveal the ending would be a disservice to all who may see this little masterpiece.

The entire cast is of the highest caliber and Canet succeeds in getting brilliant performances from each. Though each actor is excellent, the performances by Benoît Magimel, Marion Cotillard and François Cluzet are exceptional. This is a thinking person's film but one that holds as much brilliant drama and impact as any film before us today. Grady Harp, February 13

In Paris, a truck runs over the biker Ludo (Jean Dujardin) while he is driving home after spending the night snorting cocaine in a night-club. His long-time friends visit him in the hospital where he is in coma. The group is ready to travel on the annual vacation to the house of the successful businessman Max Cantara (François Cluzet) nearby Bordeaux and they decide to travel anyway and return when Ludo is better.

The physiotherapist Vincent Ribaud (Benoît Magimel), who is married with a child, tells to his fifteen year-old friend and godfather of his son, Max, that he wants to talk to him in private and they have lunch together in Max's restaurant. Vincent discloses to him that he has fallen in love with him. Max reacts to his words and Vincent asks him to keep the secret and forget their conversation.

Along the days, each friend has a little secret while Max is near nervous breakdown with Vincent. Until the day that Max's friend Jean-Louis (Joël Dupuch) tells the truth about their little lies and friendship.

"Les Petits Mouchoirs" is a French movie about friends' reunion in the same style of the American "The Big Chill" by Lawrence Kasdan or the British "Peter's Friends" by Kenneth Branagh. The movie has great performances but the prolix story is too long, a corny conclusion and deserved to be better and better for such wonderful cast. I liked this movie, but many sub-plots and the conclusion should have been shortened or deleted in the edition. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Até a Eternidade" ("Until the Eternity")

I really enjoyed this movie. I liked the way it was filmed and directed. A good story, the script was tight, the actors very good and I engaged well in their characters. None of them were particularly likable either. I loved the sound track too, some great tunes. A shock for me was the ending, last 10 minutes. It appeared tacked on, as if the producer's wife said to him if you don't stick this on, no more amour for you Cherie. To me it almost ruined the movie, so turn it off about 10 minutes from the end, you'll know when. It would have got 10 stars from me but for that. But having said that if you're into Hollywood style huggy, tears and let it all out crap in slow mo with a wincingly appropriate tune, let it roll.

Let me start of by saying: Do not watch this because you want to see Jean Dujardin! Since he won the Oscar a couple of months ago, I'm pretty sure the demand on his movies has been increased. But this is not a Dujardin vehicle. While his character is pivotal to the whole story, he himself will not appear in it for a long period of time. I didn't count the minutes, but his screen presence does not warrant you to watch it for him alone.

Having said that, I do hope you watch it for what it is and all the other wonderful french actors that are in it. One of them being his "partner-in-crime" in his newest movie (L'Infidels). The story consists of every character having something inside them, wanting to burst out. Some are subtle about it and some are not. I think the character who is the loudest might feel to be the most annoying one, but the actor walks the fine line of still making him sympathetic enough for us to care. A really good drama, that will find it's audience.