Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Konterr Brilliant and touching

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Married Baby Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

cinematic_aficionado A marriage on the rocks, where both sides look for something on the side. The only sparkle comes in the form of the Mrs asking her husband for assistance with an acquaintance's immigration issues. In theory it should have been easy; his father is a high ranking civil servant. Given however the dysfunctional relationship between father and son, it makes it a rather mammoth task and it gets more interesting when the son falls for the émigré and thus intensifies the efforts.In a typically French fashion, this comedy score high and wit and sophistication with a generous dose of satire towards modern life and interpersonal relationships.

writers_reign Born in 1946 Bonitzer had just entered his teens when the much-vaunted Nouvelle Vague had its moment in the sun and clearly it left a mark on an impressionable mind because Bonitzer's day job used to be penning reviews for Cahiers du Cinema, the infamous breeding-ground of Truffaut, Godard and their cronies. Further, Bonitzer clearly thinks it clever to take top post-Nouvelle Vague talents like Jean-Pierre Bacri, Claude Rich, Isabelle Carre and Kristen Scott Thomas and saddle them with a Nouvelle Vague type plot, six parts pretentiousness to three parts gobbledygook. The whole thing is shrouded in a bizarre non-colour as if Bonitzer couldn't quite justify shooting in the black-and-white stock of choice of the new waveleteers but at the same time couldn't quite bring himself to shoot in decent colour. Actors of this calibre will always triumph over merde but unless you are a die-hard fan of one or more of the leading actors give this one a miss.

ASSIOMA Simon (doomgen_29) I can see why such a movie could be so easily dismissed by your regular Hollywood addict, it's slow, rather smart and very much grounded in reality, and it's your typical Parisian literary approach to cinema story telling. Although I should emphasize the fact that I don't use the word typical in a derogatory way. Desplechin, Podalydes, Bonitzer, Resnais and other French directors, may seem stylistically or thematically close, but in truth are very different from one another. They take movies seriously, the European way, for them it's not about plot or sending a clear message to the viewer, they're more concerned with lofty concepts, creating a mood or simply sharing their views on the human condition. So yes, the protagonist is an intellectual (so is Bonitzer, he used to be a philosophy teacher) and yes, the thing happening to him may not seem to warrant a 2 hour movie, his life is boring, and so is often our own. Bonitzer, shows the naked truth, and it's risky, because that's not why most people go to movies, and I get that, but the movie is actually fun (in parts), never sentimental but sincere and touching. It's a fine movie, honest, solid, definitely worthy of the price of admission. It's very French and definitely naturalistic and intellectual, but pretentious it is not, but to put it simply, it'll be freezing in Hell before Bonitzer starts dumbing down his movies!

vostf You've got the typical subsidised French movie: the writer-director-author puts in some nice bits about his characters and he is pretty content with his flimsy story. Looks like low production specs with a Parisian artsy bourgeois coating. Mid-life crisis & intellectual couple trouble - check. Political/social issue - check. Father-son relationship - check. Male friendship, mmmm.... not so sure. Heterosexual unease in a gay context - check. Hypocrisy and shallowness of the powerful - check.Quite frankly it is boring to think so many movies are made in France about Parisian intellectuals who have little problems in their lives but who really suffer because they're aware of all the misery outside. The title says it all, and we can guess Pascal Bonitzer was not sidelined when a release titled had to be decided upon. The title means nothing, it doesn't stay, it is most probably a pretentious intellectual guess game.All in all it is somewhat distressing to see such movies that go nowhere and are plenty happy with it. Cherchez Hortense doesn't go as far as being pretentious author stuff, he never wants to assert a message, that's what makes it nice and very forgettable. And with such a poor title it is a movie that can be forgotten even before you seriously think of seeing it.