Je vais te manquer (2009) - film review

A young girl intends to find a princess for her father, a recently divorced young man.  A schoolteacher decides to give up her job and start a new life in Quebec.  Knowing that she has an incurable disease, Julia sets out on her last voyage.  Marcel, a jaded writer who is obsessed with his book sales, wallows in solitude.  Max, an aged psychiatrist, finally manages to make contact with his one true love, many years after they parted.  At a busy airport, the paths of these people will cross, with unexpected consequences...

Writer Amanda Sthers makes her directorial debut with this all-too mechanical choral piece which, despite its stellar cast, singularly fails to make much of an impression.  Stars of the calibre of Carole Bouquet and Pierre Arditi cannot disguise the fact that the film is nothing more than the most appalling accumulation of tired clichés, marinated in a slightly sick-making saccharine sauce.  There are a few touching moments (notably some of the scenes with Michael Lonsdale), but these are pretty well lost amidst all the tedious platitudes and hopeless attempts at humour.  After the totally amateurish scene in which an airport security officer reveals himself to be a comical Nazi the film loses all credibility and is excruciating to sit through.  Je vais te manquer is definitely not a film anyone is ever likely to miss.

© filmsdefrance.com 2012

Write a review for this film...

What do you think of this film?