First of all,I would like to answer the reviewer who, in his insightful comment ,wrote that to appreciate French movies,you have got to be familiar with Molière ,La Fontaine,and co!As this reviewer wrote from the USA ,I'd tell him that,to appreciate the American movies ,say,of the fifties,you do not have to be familiar with Dreiser,Williams ,Miller,Steinbeck Et Al.
French women directors ,more and more,make their presence felt in the French cinema ;the psychic daughters of Jacqueline Audry (much more than Varda),their subject is often women and they do it better than their male counterparts.
In spite of a disappointing ending,"On A Failli Etre Amies" is much fun to watch ,particularly in its first hour,full of funny,nay hilarious scenes;besides Emmanuelle Devos and Karine Viard give superlative performances.
The depiction of the vocational training center is a sensational moment: the lozenge metaphor nobody understands (the others just pretend) by a self-satisfied would be highbrow whose teaching skills are not up to scratch;the "answer" (the job Carole is looking for) of the computer may become a classic scene : the machine goes on repeating" falconer" ;the accident (how is it possible on a straight road ?,says the angry cook)
When we meet Carole,she lacks self-assurance and self-confidence ,although her husband makes gourmet dishes (and I mean gourmet!) in his chic restaurant "Le Moulin Bleu" ;this skilled cook seems to outstrip her .In direct contrast with her,Marithé is the young executive,with good prospects ,but ,unlike her colleague,she has her way with her trainees :Carole's husband is to open a bistro? - let's notice that this bistro is not a cheap place like the French know,and this is a misnomer- presto,new jobs for her unemployed people! Little by little,as Carole gains assurance,it is at Marithé 's expense !The timid woman is some kind of vampire who puts her on and wears her out.
Except for the scenes with Marithé 's parents and sonny's scholarship ,filler which gets in the way,the screenplay is tight ,well- constructed till the trainer's burn out.
Afterward ,the movie loses steam :we could expect more madness,more bitterness,and (yes!) more nastiness ;this is finally a predictable happy end of sorts;we would like to be surprised and we are given a bourgeois denouement.
Watch it anyway :there are too many good scenes in it ! Let's hope talented Mrs Le Ny will see it through his next effort.
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