In this beautiful romantic drama of an aging singer struggling to hold on to youth and love, Gérard Depardieu gives a perfect portrayal of a lounge lizard who used to be more famous. He still highlights his hair, plans out performance wardrobes, negotiates contracts, signs autographs and poses for pictures, but most of his audience is past middle-age and his gigs are sometimes in old folks' homes. He puts feeling into his singing, picking out individuals in the crowd and making her feel like he's singing only to her, but you can see the expression in his eyes: he's done this all before, and before it was far more fulfilling.
One evening, he spots the beautiful Cécile de France in the audience. She's a realtor who works with his pal, Mathieu Amalric, and Gérard is immediately smitten. Cécile doesn't return his feelings, and as he pursues her, it's simultaneously sweet and heartbreaking to watch the push and pull. To complicate matters, Mathieu also has feelings for Cécile, and Cécile has custody troubles with her ex-husband.
The story itself is interesting enough to carry the movie since it's an unusual love triangle, with both men presenting different strengths and weaknesses. Gérard is his usual irresistible self, but Mathieu is pretty cute, and with both guys making moony eyes at her, Cécile has a tough decision on her hands. It makes sense that she's drawn to both, since they're both shy, insecure, and sensitive in their own way. As a bonus in addition to the storyline, you've got eye candy all around, and as an extra bonus, you can listen to Gérard singing several songs! He's such a doll, and I'd love to get a copy of the soundtrack.
A note to my fellow English-speaking audiences: I watched this movie without subtitles and was able to understand about ¼ of the dialogue, with only two years of French under my belt. If you're looking to test your lessons, this is a great movie to watch. I loved it so much, I'll be watching it again after picking up some more French!
One evening, he spots the beautiful Cécile de France in the audience. She's a realtor who works with his pal, Mathieu Amalric, and Gérard is immediately smitten. Cécile doesn't return his feelings, and as he pursues her, it's simultaneously sweet and heartbreaking to watch the push and pull. To complicate matters, Mathieu also has feelings for Cécile, and Cécile has custody troubles with her ex-husband.
The story itself is interesting enough to carry the movie since it's an unusual love triangle, with both men presenting different strengths and weaknesses. Gérard is his usual irresistible self, but Mathieu is pretty cute, and with both guys making moony eyes at her, Cécile has a tough decision on her hands. It makes sense that she's drawn to both, since they're both shy, insecure, and sensitive in their own way. As a bonus in addition to the storyline, you've got eye candy all around, and as an extra bonus, you can listen to Gérard singing several songs! He's such a doll, and I'd love to get a copy of the soundtrack.
A note to my fellow English-speaking audiences: I watched this movie without subtitles and was able to understand about ¼ of the dialogue, with only two years of French under my belt. If you're looking to test your lessons, this is a great movie to watch. I loved it so much, I'll be watching it again after picking up some more French!