SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

SoftInloveRox Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Peter de Laat If honesty and a productive life are important to you, this is a must see movie. That is, if you like an emotional horror story.It is about a conman, played by François Cluzet, who is mistakenly assumed to be someone in charge to finish a highway. This gives him the opportunity to rip off lots of people but to maximize his profits he has to stay and masquerade as the big boss - which he does.And then he falls in love with the way of life a real man in charge would have. He falls in love with creating something. And he falls in love with a woman.What follows is sheer horror unmatched by anything I have ever seen. The emotional hell for this guy is portrayed so convincingly by Cluzet that your stomach turns and at times it almost becomes unbearable to watch. Truly incredible movie. Go see it if you have a chance!!

FilmCriticLalitRao In cinema, France is often presented as a hub of culture where all kinds of people are shown hanging around cafés while sipping huge quantities of café. They are represented on screen as living in nice houses with book shelves full of literature books. A l'Origine presents a completely different image of culturally rich France. It is a realistic portrayal of France especially in its apt depiction of all turmoil related to fragile job market. Director Xavier Giannoli shows a crook who has always remained reluctant as hesitant fear always shone on his face. As usual French actor François Cluzet is superb as a different type of crook- one who would not at all hesitate to put his personal, ill gotten wealth to let his project succeed. About François Cluzet it can be said that he has never attempted to become a 'star' as time and again his brilliant acting performances have assured him a permanent place in the realm of French cinema as an "actor of quality". Emmanuelle Devos' performance is amazing in a supporting role as a small town mayor who does not think much before falling for a hesitant conman. This film also features a minor yet essential performance by legendary French actor Gérard Depardieu. He would play a lead role in "Quand J'étais Un Chanteur" / When I was a singer directed by Xavier Giannoli. In the wake of numerous incidents of suicides by France Telecom employees who collapsed due to enormous work pressure, A l'Origine makes a lot of sense as a film which tries to find why some people would go to any extent to earn easy money. One needs to simply watch how a whole town has gone crazy with the sudden arrival of a conman with kids making paintings and a father sitting proudly with his son in a dump truck with people cheering them. This film is your chance to feel happy in life by watching giant trucks used in constructing highways.

rowmorg This movie is an exercise in story-telling and it carries us almost right to the end (where there are a couple of hackneyed devices). Our hero is a screwed up thief who gets involved in an enormous project way beyond his abilities or finances, and his life becomes a parody of many people's business style (including the bank-managers's). So the story takes us from his con-tricks through to the local community latching on to him (it's really not his fault) and pushing into completing the abandoned by-pass. It's then all about employment, so it develops on several levels. In the end, it's a crackdown on our sleazy-turned-heroic Francois Cluzet by the gendarmes and we read a few cue-cards about how it all worked out. Apparently our hero disappeared after serving his prison sentence --- perhaps he learned a movie was going to be made. We felt sorry for the widowed mayoress who strayed into his arms, but that's life...Highly recommended.

Felix-28 This is a peculiar film. It's said to be based on a true story, but I can't find any details of the true story after a search (which I admit was short) on the net. Other reviews tell the story, so I won't repeat it. It's compelling to watch, but at the same time painful to watch, because while you're watching a group of characters and coming to like them more and more, you know it must all end in tragedy. François Cluzet is excellent as the con-man who gets vastly out of his depth and flails about ever more frantically to keep his head above water. Emmanuelle Devos is at her most striking and most vulnerable; the more I see of her the more magnificent I think she is. It's a pity she's not a little better at choosing her roles; some of the films she's been in have been shockers. There are also very nice turns from Gérard Depardieu as a very tough, seasoned crim, and Soko and Vincent Rottiers as a struggling young couple. The film is too long by about 30 minutes. The Hollywood vice of prolixity seems to be affecting the French now. It's 130 minutes long; the version shown at Cannes was 155 and must have been excruciating. There are too many scenes that are prolonged to the point of tedium, and there's a section just after half way through where the story progresses very little which could have been cut entirely. It would have been a much better film if it had been a bit tighter.I still give it 8. The power of the story and the quality of the performances and the direction make it worth that.