Reviewed by Doug Cooper
Stars Chiara Caselli, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Alice de Lencquesaing, Alice Gautier, Manelle Driss, Eric Elmosnino, Sandrine Dumas, Dominique Frot, Antoine Mathieu, Igor Hansen-Love
Written by Mia Hansen-Love
Certification UK 12A
Runtime 110 minutes
Directed by Mia Hansen-Love
Gregoire (Lencquesaing) is a chain smoking movie producer trying to juggle his finances as the creditors close in. He has one project shooting, a costume epic, and not enough money to pay cast and crew. He is hoping for a quick loan and has several other projects on the stocks ready to go. He is also happily married with three daughters and spends time with them at the weekends when they visit their country cottage. Two of his children are very young while the other is a teenager going through the pangs of adolescence.
He seems to be coping with the pressures of work calmly enough but the fact that his movie company appears to be going under is something he cannot bear. So what does he do? Why he shoots himself of course. Dead. This act obviously has a major impact on all those who came into contact with him - not least his wife (Caselli). It is she who has to protect the girls and take up the reins of his production company, visiting a temperamental Russian film director (Brekke) and trying to conduct business with him as he asks for more money. Meanwhile her teenage daughter uncovers the news that her father had sired a son with another woman years ago and goes about meeting her.
All these plot machinations are believably presented in director Hansen-Love's capable hands. She adopts a naturalistic though delicate tone, never dirtying her hands as such but still giving us plausible characters with their requisite foibles. Apart from one that is. We never get to see Gregoire's anguish fully or feel the enclosing disaster that is enveloping him. Consequently his suicide comes out of the blue and lacks resonance or power. It should be a seismic event but the action never seems justified. Reactions seem muted from other characters apart from his family.
And though Caselli is convincingly vulnerable in taking over the company we don't greatly care for her plight, sharing little pity for her. This is because the overall tone is anemic. But plaudits are deserved for the director's conviction even though her effort never quite engrosses as it should. Not bad, but could've been better.