Love, etc. (1996)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Marion Vernoux

Writers:

Dodine Herry (adaptation) and
Marion Vernoux (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

27 November 1996 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

A triangle: love, obsession, and choice. Pierre, a ladies' man who has little cash and no fixed residence...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Ménage À Trois | Jealousy | Adultery | Female Nudity

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Charlotte Gainsbourg	...	Marie
Yvan Attal	...	Benoît
Charles Berling	...	Pierre
Thibault de Montalembert	...	Bernard
Élodie Navarre	...	Eléonore
Marie Adam	...	La femme de Bernard
Charlotte Maury-Sentier	...	Catherine
Valérie Bonneton	...	Florist
Susan Moncur	...	Susan
Andrée Tainsy	...	Mireille
Dodine Herry	...	Alice (voice)
Dominique Reymond	...	La mère de Marie
Daniel Duval	...	Yvon
Wu Dazhi	...	Travesti chinois
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Aurélie Bonlieu
Eloi Casals
Jimmy Jean-Louis
Ivan Martin
Sylvie Testud

Also Known As:

Love, etc... (USA) (alternative title)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Germany:12 | UK:15

Company:

Alicéléo

Soundtrack:

z holiday

Tedium, etc.

A French adaptation of a Julian Barnes novel, this is a pretty basic and very tedious romantic triangle: when shy loser Yvan Attal hooks up with Charlotte Gainsbourg, his luck changes while his best friend Charles Berling's fortunes suffer reverses as he falls for her and bores passing strangers by telling them his hopes of how to win her. Unfortunately this seems to be by going for the Anakin Skywalker route of whining her into submission, as his tiresome self-pity gradually and inexplicably wins her over.

There are a few nice moments: a wedding photo in which all three reveal their innermost thoughts, one of Berling's captive confessors asking him "Don't you ever get tired of your bulls**t?" and Berling following his comparison of an affair being as unsatisfactory as a holiday in Marbella by his nervous rambling that "Actually, Marbella can be nice at this time of year. I went there once. It's best to go off season." Similarly, his dismissal of Leonard Cohen's genius by admitting he finds a lack of imagination in rhyming 'ay' with 'ay ay ay' neatly punctures Attal's tendency to play Cohen's waltz at every opportunity. Unfortunately they are few and far between, and Berling is astonishingly annoying here. You keep on waiting for someone to hit him, repeatedly (now there's an idea for a movie!), but it never happens. There is one great final confrontation when Attal confronts the two: his performance has real power here and the writing mirrors the ebb and flow and awkwardness of such moments. But it's not enough.