Folle d'elle (1998)

Director:

Jérôme Cornuau

Writers:

Guy-Pierre Bennet (writer)
Franc Caggiano (writer)

Release Date:

17 June 1998 (France)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

A man (Barr) falls in love from afar with a woman (Winter), who has just broken up acrimoniously with...

Plot Keywords:

Man Pretending To Be Gay | Gay Interest | Homosexual

Cast

Ophélie Winter	...	Lisa
Jean-Marc Barr	...	Marc
Raquel Welch	...	Jacqueline
Philippe Duquesne	...	Victor
Frédéric Bouraly	...	Alex
Didier Cauchy	...	Fred
Dominic Keating	...	Chris
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Diana Barton	...	Carole
Guy-Pierre Bennet	...	Président Phoenix
Philippe Bergeron	...	Ponthieu
Aaron Brumfield	...	Serveur
Félix Castro	...	Cassier
Lillian Hurst	...	Gradiosa
Michelle Crosby Jones	...	Debbie
Jean-Pierre Kalfon	...	Anderson
Archie Larochie	...	Consul
Alexondra Lee	...	Shirley
Gilles Lellouche	...	Gilles
John P. Menese	...	Jogger (as J.P. Menese)
Monica Moynihan	...	Surfer #1
Jarrad Paul	...	Thomas
Kivi Rogers	...	Bruce
Michelle K. Russell	...	Singer
Whitney Rydbeck	...	Fauvette
Howard Shangraw	...	Pastor
Susie Spear	...	Diane
Michael Edward Thomas	...	Steve
Brandy Valentino	...	Ben
Rocco Vienhage	...	Harry
R. Ryan Weiss	...	Surfer #2

Also Known As:

What I Did for Love

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

France:U | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud)

Company:

Les Films de la Suane

Soundtrack:

Members of the stars

Familiar premise, fresh execution due to game actors.

Jean-Marc Barr is able to flex his comic chops and he is more than up to task. However, the surrounding film could have been so much...more. The story is hardly original: a man, pretending to be gay tries to cozy up the object of his affections (the stunningly photogenic Winter) by playing at being an innocent confidant. He falls hard for her and she for he, however, if he reveals his true orientation (and intentions) that could really complicate matters. That's pretty much all there is, but the film is pretty charming and Barr (a reliable and highly, highly under-rated actor) doesn't bring any offensive nuances at playing gay - he was actually quite funny (perhaps a little over-the-top in some sequences). Movie Icon Raquel Welch shows up (dubbed in French and looking as flawless as ever) as a friend to Winters' character - her comic timing is on and it would have been nice to have seen her role expanded. What's most interesting: although filmed in French, the film was shot in Malibu, California (one would have expected the Riviera or Languedoc-Roussillon region as both are equally appropriate settings as well). It's shot nicely, too - the cinematography is almost as stunning as Ms. Winters' smile with its sunny orange glows hitting the actors' faces and bright, nicely rendered colors of the sets. Not the most original production and some of the looping is off - there are a few moments in the film where the actors voices don't match up with lip movements (although in the original French language).

The DVD has some tech problems in the form of intense line-shimmering. The 2.35:1 widescreen enhanced for anamorphic TVs DVD comes with subtitles, the original trailer and three music videos by singer/actress Ophelie Winter.