Pour rire! (1996) - film review

Alice is a successful barrister who lives with her stay-at-home boyfriend Nicholas.  When their mutual friend Juliette splits up with her partner Michel, Nicholas takes solace in the fact that his relationship with Alice is a stable one.  He does not realise that Alice has been seeing another man, a handsome sports photographer, Gaspard, for the past few months.  When he discovers the truth, Nicholas goes to extreme lengths to gain Gaspard’s confidence, with the intention of sabotaging the affair...

Lucas Belvaux’s second full length film is this unusual low-key menage-à-trois sex comedy featuring Italian beauty Ornella Muti and popular French actor Jean-Pierre Léaud.   The film shows great originality in both its plot (which avoids the obvious stereotypical tendencies) and its form – it takes a good half an hour to work out whether the film is meant to be a comedy or an off-the-wall thriller.   Well-scripted and well-acted, the film tells an engaging story whilst making some wry observations on life.   Although the comedy is played down, there are some stupendously funny moments in the film and some excruciatingly droll one-liners.   In French cinema, comedy is often most effective when it is not played for laughs, and this film, with its ironic title, proves the point magnificently.

Jean-Pierre Léaud gives a resounding performance in what is almost certainly his best film role since playing Antoine Doinel for François Truffaut.   Even well into middle-age, Léaud retains that distinctive rebellious adolescent spirit, something which gives a disturbing schizophrenia to his portrayal of Nicholas.  Are the character’s intentions when he discovers his girlfriend’s infidelity innocent or deadly – Léaud plays him in a way which makes either outcome appear plausible.  Despite this edge of uncertainty, the actor is utterly charming and is the main contributor to the film’s great entertainment value.

© James Travers 2002

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