From its pedigree alone this movie should have been completely wonderful. Directed and penned by award-winning actor/director Bruno Podalydes and with a cast of that was like a veritable who’s who of French Cinema it had all the hallmarks of a sure-fire hit instead of the reality of the total dud it actually turned out to be.
Almost impossible to describe, the movie is set like a three act play, and although there are some tenuous connections most of the action is a series of unrelated vignettes. The only thing they have in common is that they are all tediously unfunny to the point of being more than somewhat annoying.
The first scene is in a high rise office where the workers can espy a large banner hanging down from the apartment building opposite. It simply says ‘lonely man’, and all of staff each conjure up their own idea of what this message can mean. Soon everyone is involved in the discussion so three of the woman are dispatched to discover if there is a lovesick man or even a dead body behind the locked door of the apartment.
Their deep concern soon evaporates when suddenly its lunchtime and some of them make their way to the nearby park and sit amongst a whole assortment of annoying real crazies who evidently inhabit their own little worlds which are not actually connected to the outside one at all.
The third scene is in a nearby Hardware Store owned by a certifiable man who relentlessly browbeats his petrified staff to pursue potenial customers more aggressively to save the struggling business and their jobs. One of the staff and a couple of the customers had been in the park scene, but most of the ‘action’ is with a completely new set of ‘characters’ who dart in and out of the story leaving us even more puzzled. There is a rare highlight such as when Catherine Deneuve brings in an antique cabinet to be repaired, as she of course can shine through any inane banter.
I have simply no-idea what essentially this movie actually about, and in fact why it was ever made, and what on earth convinced all these enormous stars to play their silly cameo parts. ( Maybe the clue is in the name of the Production Company i.e. Why Not!) I’m even unsure of the genre it was supposed to be. Neither comedy or romance or drama, I guess it was in fact an unintentional tragedy.
And the banner from the window? It was a joke ….. of course! Really?
I sit through movies like this so you dont have too, but never again.
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From its pedigree alone this movie should have been completely wonderful. Directed and penned by award-winning actor/director Bruno Podalydes and with a cast of that was like a veritable who’s who of French Cinema it had all the hallmarks of a sure-fire hit instead of the reality of the total dud it actually turned out to be.
