À nous les garçons (1985) - film review

Stéphanie and Véronique are two teenage girls who couldn’t be more dissimilar.  Whilst Stéphanie is a believer in free love, to the extent of using it to wear out members of an opposing ice hockey team, Véronique is still a virgin, although she is just a susceptible falling in love.   Stéphanie’s behaviour is perhaps a reaction to her parent’s marital breakdown and her father’s incessant philandering.  By contrast, Véronique comes from an apparently normal family, with parents who are still on speaking terms.  Whilst Stéphanie and Véronique fight it out over Cyril, a handsome young man who has managed to light both their candles, Véronique’s father somehow arrives at the conclusion that his wife is having an affair with Stéphanie’s father Alex.

This lukewarm romantic teen comedy is little more than a pale imitation of Claude Pinoteau 1980 hit La Boum.  Whilst the film was popular in its day, particularly among teenage girls (and the many full-front nude shots of teenage boys may have had something to do with that), it now feels very dated and insubstantial.  The acting is okay, although - with the possible exception of Franck Dubosc (who makes his film debut here) – there’s a distinct lack of charisma. The real problem is the script, which just feels just so cliché-riddled and lacking in any real feeling.

© James Travers 2006

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