Yann Samuell's latest directorial offering has much in common with his
debut feature Jeux d'enfants (2003).
Both revolve around a nonsensical plot device in which the grown-up
protagonists are emotionally linked to their childhood counterparts and
both feel like a clumsy attempt to emulate the style of Jean-Pierre
Jeunet's Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain
(2002). L'Âge de raison
has just a tad more substance to it than Jeux d'enfants but is just as
frustratingly Hell-bent on deluging its audience in twee whimsy.
The premise (an adult suddenly realising he or she has betrayed his
childhood ideals) has considerable promise but this is pretty well
squandered in pursuit of what is really no more than a piece of
childish pantomime.
Sophie Marceau and Michel Duchaussoy bring at least a patina of
respectability to the proceedings, the former being particularly
amusing in a role that is a near-send-up of the 1980s-style executive
super-bitch. Unfortunately both actors are ill-served by a script
that is little more than an accumulation of dated clichés.
Indeed much of the charm and humour in this film appears to have got
there entirely by accident. The scripted jokes generally have
less chance of provoking a laugh than an outbreak of bubonic
plague. L'Âge de raison just
about passes muster as good mindless fun but don't expect too much.
The above content is owned by frenchfilms.org and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Margaret is a successful businesswoman who governs both her career and her
love life with the same steely resolve, with the result that she is feared and admired
by all but loved by no one. On her 40th birthday she is contacted by
a notary who passes on to her letters written by a 7-year-old girl.
Margaret realises that she is the author of the letters, and wrote them when
she was a little girl to remind her of what she was hoping to become when
she grew up. The adult Margaret is shocked to discover how far she
has failed to live up to the infant Margaret's expectations....
Cast:Sophie Marceau (Marguerite vel Margaret Flore),
Marton Csokas (Malcolm),
Michel Duchaussoy (Maitre Mérignac),
Jonathan Zaccaï (Philibert Bakary),
Emmanuelle Grönvold (De Lorca),
Juliette Chappey (Marguerite Flore enfant),
Thierry Hancisse (Mathieu),
Déborah Marique (La maman de Marguerite),
Roméo Lebeaut (Philibert Bakary enfant),
Jarod Legrand (Mathieu enfant),
Alexis Michalik (L'assistant de Margaret),
Raphaël Devedjian (Simon),
Emmanuel LeMire (Le papa de Marguerite),
Christopher Tram (Négociateur),
Jacky Ribault (Agent sécurité),
Franck Adrien (Employé hall),
Jérémie Chaplain (Serveur restaurant),
Anne Robert (Voisine),
Clara Guipont (Voisine restaurant),
Christophe Rossignon (Huissier)
Country: France / Belgium
Language: French / English
Support: Color
Runtime: 97 min
Aka:With Love ;
L'âge de raison
Kafka's tortuous trial of love
Franz Kafka's letters to his fiancée Felice Bauer not only reveal a soul in torment; they also give us a harrowing self-portrait of a man appalled by his own existence.
It was American film noir and pulp fiction that kick-started the craze for thrillers in 1950s France and made it one of the most popular and enduring genres.
American film comedy had its heyday in the 1920s and '30s, but it remains an important genre and has given American cinema some of its enduring classics.