Les Petits mouchoirs

Guillaume Canet est un réalisateur discret. D'abord Mon idole en 2002, puis Ne le dis à personne en 2006, Les Petits mouchoirs, sorti le 20 octobre dernier, continu à faire monter la cote du jeune premier.

Malgré un accueil bien mitigé de la part des critiques et notamment de celles qui soit-disant font « autorité » dans le milieu, le dernier né de la réalisation Canet semble rassembler l'avis des spectateurs dans le positif uniquement.

Les Petits mouchoirs nous plonge au cœur de l'histoire d'une bande de copains à un moment clé de leur amitié. L'un d'entre eux, Ludo (Jean Dujardin) vient de se faire percuter en scooter, ce qui constitue le premier moment choc du film. Malgré leur culpabilité, malgré leur inquiétude pour leur ami, le reste de la bande décide de partir comme prévu dans le sud pour leurs vacances annuelles.

Il y a d'abord Max, restaurateur riche et névrosé, et sa femme Véronique (François Cluzet et Valérie Bonneton), une adepte du bio qui essaye tant bien que mal de résonner son mari. Ensuite viennent Vincent et Isabelle (Benoît Magimel et Pascale Arbillot) dont le couple vacille suite à une remise en question de la part de Vincent. Il y a aussi Marie (Marion Cotillard) aux multiples amants, Antoine (Laurent Lafitte), obsédé par son ex compagne Juliette (Anne Marivin) et ses textos; et enfin Eric (Gilles Lellouche) le séducteur. Tous nous sont présentés avec leurs bagages. L'arbitre dans tout ça sera peut être Jean Louis (Joel Dupuch), et l'élément unificateur Ludo.

Ils vont devoir faire face à la culpabilité d'avoir laissé Ludo seul à l'hôpital ainsi qu'aux tensions possibles, et surtout suite à la révélation faite par Vincent à Max. Leur amitié à tous va être remise en question.

Malgré la mise en avant de sujets graves, on se surprend à rire. Guillaume Canet a su jouer sur les émotions, et ce tout en délicatesse. Joies, rires, peines, culpabilité ne sont que quelques exemples parmi les multiples sentiments que Canet à su transmettre à ses personnages, et par la même aux spectateurs. Des spectateurs qui ne sortent de la salle que plus troublés par ces 2h30 de vie qui passent en un rien de temps. Parce que oui, c'est vraiment les choses de la vie que Canet nous présente. Chacun peut se retrouver dans ses personnages, même s'ils apparaissent très caricaturaux. Par exemple, Antoine est agaçant du début à la fin et Max également, à cause de sa mauvaise humeur continuelle. Il y a que c'est franchement drôle, on rigole beaucoup à leurs dépend même si cela reste de la caricature.

La fin. Que dire de la fin. Malgré des longueurs peut être inutiles, il y a deux éléments symboliques, deux preuves d'amitié et d'union dont je ne pourrai pas parler mais qui me semblent magnifiques de Max, Vincent, Antoine et Eric d'une part et de Jean Louis d'autre part. Vous comprendrez quand vous l'aurez vu.

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

Woody has his own cinematographic touch including original titles, a soundtrack almost missing and the film beginning in the middle of things in order to the audience to be projected among the characters. Don't be afraid the story alternates between flashbacks and present time. You will not get lost and you will not miss a thing of the plot. In addition, the stories cross over to dynamize the film..

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is above all the story of Helena (Gemma Jones, always at her best) whose husband divorce her not so long ago. The film begins by her visiting a fortune teller named Cristal. Obviously that woman is a crook, using basic playing cards to see future, telling what Helena wants and needs to hear.

From Helena we will follow as well the lives of her ex husband Alfie (Anthony Hopkins) and of their daughter Sally and her husband Roy (Naomi Watts and Josh Brolin). Alfie wishes for a new youth, her daughter's couple is on the skids due to a lack of money and a lack of pregnancy. To put it another way, Roy is a novelist with a medicine diploma who has sold one best-seller and struggles to complete his latest, leaving aside the want of his wife to become a mother.

There is also a glimpse at Sally's boss Greg's (Antonio Banderas) life who has troubles at home, just like her. No need to mention the sex appeal of this beautiful foreigner and his accent which will put Sally to a severe test as far as her faithfulness is concerned. Roy's faithfulness will also be challenged by his encounter with the red-dressed neighbour Dia (the rising Freida Pinto)

So Helena manages to move on as well as being happy again, thanks to Cristal's guidance. The latter will predict Helena's meeting with a man coined the tall dark stranger..how thrilling. Maybe.

This new born Woody Allen resembles more to a tableau than to a film. Actually there is a feeling of disappointment at the end. The story stops when the audience would have expected some more clues to solve the issues brought forward throughout the film. We have popped in and out of their lives without more information.

All in all, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is about being strong before the vagaries of life, about how to face them, what your instinct tells you to do. But our dear director is not as his best with this film. Although the plot presents very interesting elements, a feeling of déjà-vu remains. We miss the great philosophical speeches that we were glad to rediscover in Whatever Works.

Despicable Me

 

All right, he is him, ugly and mean but Despicable Me is so much more in keeping with the subject. What a shame I did not see it in English. I must admit it is hard to explain why you like a word rather than another. “Despicable”...as if meanness were felt in the syllables. Anyway.

This animated comedy tells the story of Gru (aka Steve Carell in English and the over media-friendly Gad Elmaleh in French), a criminal mastermind helped by an army of tiny yellow things called minions and an old stone deaf scientific. Gru is not actually the greatest mean guy on the planet but rather the failed criminal being now too old for sensational jobs – and his banker. New villains flourishing on the market are in fact far more rising, such as the feeble Vector is. The very one who stole one of the great pyramids of Egypt. Yes, that's true. But beware, Gru is about to set his ultimate scheme going : stealing the moon. It is not that his plan is complicated but Vector will put a spoke in his wheels. One aspect of his brilliant projects consists of adopting three young girls who sell cookies. You will know why soon enough. Nothing is perfect and these girls will change his life in a radical way for his greatest pleasure and ours at the same time. Actually, two totally different kind of stories mingle. The characters are so cute, so moving, so funny. It is impossible you remain stony-faced. I am still confused about those minions..not that funny or cute. Again the media aroused much more expectations.

Even though we can say the film lacks originality and that there has been to much advertising for what it really is, there is no way you can deny its humour and tenderness.