Trois couples en quête d’orages (2005) - film review

Olivier, Rémi and Pascale are three friends who have known each other since childhood.  As they approach middle age, they each experience something of a crisis in their lives.  Olivier, a doctor before becoming wheelchair bound, faces a bleak future after the break up of two relationships.  The fact that Rémi and his wife Estelle are unable to have children puts an increasing strain on their marriage.  And Pascale, a filmmaker, is on the point of leaving her husband to pursue an affair with an opportunistic career politician.

Whilst it tries desperately hard to be otherwise, this film is a pretty ordinary sentimental drama that depicts a group of fairly mundane characters facing up to middle age.  Director Jacques Otmezguine tries to make the film cleverer than it needs to be, for example by using flashbacks excessively in an attempt to make the story more interesting, but such self-conscious over-stylisation  merely serve as a distraction.  The same can be said of the intrusive, and at times very inappropriate, background music.   On a more positive note, the cast are excellent (particularly Aurélien Recoing, Samuel Labarthe and Claire Nebout), although not all are particularly well-served by the script.  There are some poignant moments along the way (for example, Olivier facing up to his physical disability), but the narrative generally lacks the depth of characterisation and emotional force it needs to keep the audience engaged.

© James Travers 2007

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