Le Vélo de Ghislain Lambert (2001) - film review

Ghislain Lambert has only one objective in life, to become a world class cyclist.  Eddy Merckx is both his idol and his inspiration.  Today he may be an unknown Belgian with a stamina deficiency, but Ghislain knows that he has the determination and guile to succeed, with a little help from his less than scrupulous brother Claude...

Coming hot on the heels, if not in the slipstream, of Philippe Harel’s excellent Extension du domaine de la lutte (1999), Le Vélo de Ghislain Lambert is something of a let down, lacking the coherence, charm and originality of Harel’s earlier work.  This is in spite of another impressive character turn from the great Benoît Poelvoorde, who once again portrays the working class loser with conviction and sympathy.  Harel and his screenwriters fail to construct a satisfying narrative from what is a decent premise and the result is a film that feels hopelessly disjointed and aimless.

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