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Pour rire!
1996 Comedy
Review
Lucas Belvaux’s second full length film is this unusual low-key menage-à-trois
sex comedy featuring Italian beauty Ornella Muti and popular French actor Jean-Pierre
Léaud. The film shows great originality in both its plot (which avoids
the obvious stereotypical tendencies) and its form – it takes a good half an hour to work
out whether the film is meant to be a comedy or an off-the-wall thriller.
Well-scripted and well-acted, the film tells an engaging story whilst making some wry
observations on life. Although the comedy is played down, there are some stupendously
funny moments in the film and some excruciatingly droll one-liners. In French
cinema, comedy is often most effective when it is not played for laughs, and this film,
with its ironic title, proves the point magnificently.
Jean-Pierre Léaud gives a resounding performance in what is almost certainly his best film role since playing Antoine Doinel for François Truffaut. Even well into middle-age, Léaud retains that distinctive rebellious adolescent spirit, something which gives a disturbing schizophrenia to his portrayal of Nicholas. Are the character’s intentions when he discovers his girlfriend’s infidelity innocent or deadly – Léaud plays him in a way which makes either outcome appear plausible. Despite this edge of uncertainty, the actor is utterly charming and is the main contributor to the film’s great entertainment value. © James Travers 2002 Write a review for this film...User Comments
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Director:
Lucas Belvaux
Starring: Ornella Muti, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Antoine Chappey, Tonie Marshall, André Cazalas Synopsis
Alice is a successful barrister who lives with her stay-at-home boyfriend Nicholas.
When their mutual friend Juliette splits up with her partner Michel, Nicholas takes solace
in the fact that his relationship with Alice is a stable one. He does not realise
that Alice has been seeing another man, a handsome sports photographer, Gaspard, for the
past few months. When he discovers the truth, Nicholas goes to extreme lengths to
gain Gaspard’s confidence, with the intention of sabotaging the affair...
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