Je préfère qu’on reste amis (2005) - film review

Thirty-something and chronically lacking in self-confidence, IT expert Claude Mendelbaum pines in solitude for the soul mate he knows he will never have.   He once had a girlfriend, but that relationship ended some time ago, and in doing so virtually destroyed the last vestiges of his stunted self-esteem.  Then Claude meets Serge who, twenty years older, divorced and saddled with two young daughters, is in the same situation as he is.  But whereas Claude is timidity personified, Serge is outgoing to the point of Don Juan bravado, always armed with a seductive smile and the appropriate chat-up line.   Serge takes Claude under his wing and sets about helping him in his search for his ideal partner.  Mission impossible, some might think...

This entertaining comedy-drama (a pleasing mix of rom-com and buddy movie) marks the promising directorial debut of a talented duo, Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, who had previously made just a handful of short films.   It’s an amusing yet rather poignant account of a problem which is affecting an increasing number of people – how to find a life-long partner in a world where personal relationships are harder to initiate and even harder to sustain.   The film isn’t perfect – it is uneven and at times annoyingly repetitive – but the convincing (and enjoyable) performances from Jean-Paul Rouve and Gérard Depardieu sustain our interest and paint a  tragicomic picture of twenty-first century life that is amusing yet horribly true to life.

© James Travers 2008

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