Quand on sera grand (2000) - film review

Simon, a 30 year old Jew of Algerian origin, is struggling to find his feet as an adult.  He and his partner Christine are unable to have a child, his job as a journalist no longer satisfies him, the turbulent lives of his friends provides an unwelcome distraction, and he is barely on speaking terms with his father, Isaac.  Things start to get even more complicated when his grandmother becomes deranged and he starts to take an interest in the pregnant wife of an unsociable neighbour.

In his first full-length film as a director, Renaud Cohen paints a colourful, true-to-life yet slightly tongue-in-cheek picture of adult life.  The characters are generally well-drawn, although Cohen doesn’t quite mange to avoid the obvious stereotypes (the dotty grandmother, the beaten wife, the standoffish Jewish father, etc).  Whilst the film feels fragmented and, in places, painfully incoherent, the quality of the acting is of a high enough standard to make the film watchable, if not profound, and, in places, pleasantly entertaining.

© James Travers 2004

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