Amour et confusions
1997 Comedy / Drama / Romance
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Credits
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Summary
Dan, a thirty-something divorcee, makes a living designing women’s underwear.
Sarah is an ambitious businesswoman who has sacrificed everything for her career.
They meet, spend the night together, and then lose track of one another. Confiding
in his cousin, Simon, an ageing nymphomaniac, Dan becomes increasingly sure that Sarah
is his ideal soul mate. He can’t understand why she doesn’t contact
him. Sarah is equally sure that Dan is her ideal partner and is expecting him to
telephone her – she left a message on a vase which Dan’s housecleaner broke
before he had time to read it. As time passes, each becomes increasingly neurotic
about this latest emotional disappointment, so that when they are finally reunited the
encounter is hardly a serene one…
Review
Patrick Braoudé both directed and starred in this bubbly comedy of manners which,
despite some really mad comic excesses, accurately portrays the complexities and neuroses
of male-female relationships in the late 1990s. The characterisation may be absurdly
over the top but the talented four lead actors give great value for money, particularly
Gérard Darmon who is hilarious as the lecherous Don Juan who has absolutely no
control over his libido or his groping hands. Fans of Kristin Scott Thomas will
doubtless be delighted by her spirited comic performance in this film – not the
kind of role she is best known for. By contrast, Patrick Braoudé and Valeria
Bruni Tedeschi add a more sombre tone and bring a touch of humanity in depicting what
is a very real problem for contemporary society. An unexpected treat is to see Jeanne
Moreau hamming it up as some kind of New Age therapist. In common with all of Braoudé’s
films to date, not all of the comedy works, and some of it is positively juvenile.
However, where the film is funny, it is chest-achingly funny.
© James Travers 2004 Write a review for this film... |
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