Flyerplesys Perfectly adorable

Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

leplatypus If you heard the director in the extras, the movie is about the power of music to inspire, to heal, the heart of true artists.Now, forget all this: the movie drags behind those expectations.If French movies (unlike Americans) are much closer to the people, the big defect of our movies is that french writers (unlike Americans) have no imagination: hence, french movies is often people simply talking in a house and that's what really happens here as Cecile plays a realtor and his client, Gerard the singer, doesn't even care about houses: this is his way to have date with her. Singing is treated with the same treachery. In fact, it's more about the love of two depressive people and i realize that in that situation, their romance is also depressive. To cast Cecile is thus unfortunate because it extinguish her fire and smiles. I won't comment the absurdity of their first night (so unreal that you cant believe their following romance) to keep the only good song that i discovered again thanks to the movie: "Je n'aurais pas le temps". It's a wonderful song about our mortality and the endless beauty of life, all that the movie isn't.

paul2001sw-1 In Xavior Giannoli's film, an ageing lounge singer (a magnificently ramshackle Gerard Depardieu) seduces a pretty young woman; and then falls in love with her. She quite likes him, but with the gap in their ages, it's unlikely that either can be a long-term solution to the problems of the other. He then gets a chance to revitalise his career; and doesn't take it. I spent most of this film wondering when something was going to happen; in fact, almost nothing does, beyond what is predicted by the premise. Although there is sexual contact, the film can be thought of as a French equivalent of 'Lost in Translation', although without that film's annoying sense of self-reverence and faux-profundity. It makes good use of the singer's repertoire which serves as both soundtrack and commentary, the performances are nicely judged, and at the end, in spite of the absence of obvious content, I found myself oddly moved.

Framescourer I suspect there must be a genre term in French cinema for films in which Depardieu gets the girl by virtue of his charisma. I think he fits his conceit rather well in this kitchen-sink sized romance, an ageing but professional dance hall singer-compère. Cécile De France also fits into this as Marion, the woman who he seduces then spends the rest of the film chasing - initially it all seems a bit odd until we discover that Marion is more damaged than outward appearance might suggest.The problem for me is that I come from the north side of the channel and simply can't process the fluid morality at the heart of the film - the ease with which people slip in and out of each others' beds but remain within the same social orbit. There's nothing in the film to explain or dramatise this situation either. I found myself getting rather waylaid as to the point of it all.Director Xavier Giannoli treats the potentially toe-curling parochial dance-hall sequences with loving reverence - one can see how Alain would be happy to do these inauspicious gigs for the rest of his life. Shame about the baffling drama though. 4/10

didi-5 'Quand j'étais chanteur' (or 'The Singer') is a lovely, funny, bittersweet film which gives Gérard Depardieu an excellent leading role as cynical, arrogant, washed-up singer Alain Moreau, who sings love tunes for middle-aged lady dancers who adore him. He meanwhile searches for love and finds something akin to it in the person of damaged, deep, prickly Marion (Cécile De France), many years his junior and out of his league.Depardieu, even approaching his sixties, brings a mix of bravado, charm, and vulnerability to the character of Moreau. Sometimes you can see where he is coming from, sometimes you sympathise, sometimes you laugh, sometimes you are irritated - a well rounded character, believable, and just that little bit broken from a lost chance to rebuild a marriage, the idea that he just might be a nicer guy than the ladykiller he has become.With Mathieu Amalric as Bruno, friend, estate agent, adversary, and Christine Citti as Michèle, former wife and backing singer, muse and manager, 'The Singer' is an intimate portrait of where life can take you if you just stop and let it. It does not shy away from poignancy and the ubiquitous happy ending, but on the way it makes its creations real and their problems and preoccupations realistic.The songs, incidentally, are sung by Depardieu and although the lyrics may be lacking in style (certainly in their translation), the delivery and ambiance proves there may well be life in the old dog yet, making it understandable why Moreau has become the obsession and fixation of lonely single, divorced, or widowed women. But under the gloss and the stagecraft is someone just as lonely, just as envious of the passing of time, and this is the ultimate strength of the film, making that obvious.