Marion Cotillard & Jean Dujardin star in warmed-over, French version of 'Big Chill'
Can a film echo a previous, better movie and still have merit? Absolutely — though for some viewers, the shadow may be hard to overcome.
Ironically, the movie that the new French comedy-drama “Little White Lies” seems to Xerox is “The Big Chill,” which itself re-purposed John Sayles’ “The Return of the Secaucus Seven.”
Yet despite all the films that have been compared to “Chill,” the stalking gets a bit close in “Lies,” which still can tout a gorgeous setting, a group of appealing actors and a mastery of the art of wine-fueled conversation. Backed up, as is required, by a great bunch of ’60s hits.
Instead of a funeral that unites people, as in “Chill,” it’s a motorcycle accident involving Ludo (“The Artist’s” Oscar-winning Jean Dujardin). But his thirtysomething friends don’t let that interrupt their vacation on the beach in Bordeaux.
While there, flirtations and recriminations flare up, loves are revealed and friendships become strained. One guy (Benoît Magimel) isn’t physically neutered, as William Hurt’s Vietnam vet was in “Chill,” but does wrestle with overly affectionate feelings for his buddy Max (François Cluzet, giving another strong turn after this spring’s “The Intouchables”).
As Max grows obsessed with ferreting out the rodents hiding in the walls of the beach house — completely different from the bat that got into the huge South Carolina house in “Chill” — a studly bachelor (Gilles Lellouche) helps a dorky chum (Laurent Lafitte) obsessed with a girl.
Playing Ludo’s ex and the group’s mercurial beauty, Marion Cottilard is remote and sad-eyed. Writer-director Guillaume Canet, Cottilard’s partner, has provided the dusky Oscar-winner with a better role than in her recent English-language films, including “Paris at Midnight” and “The Dark Knight Rises.”
As a filmmaker, Canet has a light but cerebral touch, perfectly utilized in his previous film, the terrific French thriller “Tell No One.” He knows when not to show, and tell, too much.
That’s evident here, too. The boat rides and picnics we’re privy to are an enjoyable way to get to a bittersweet conclusion. Yet it’s hard not to feel like we’ve taken this trip before.
JEAN-CLAUDE LOTHER
Laurent Lafitte, Gilles Lellouche and Marion Cotillard play reunited friends in ‘Little White Lies.
Can a film echo a previous, better movie and still have merit? Absolutely — though for some viewers, the shadow may be hard to overcome.
Ironically, the movie that the new French comedy-drama “Little White Lies” seems to Xerox is “The Big Chill,” which itself re-purposed John Sayles’ “The Return of the Secaucus Seven.”
Yet despite all the films that have been compared to “Chill,” the stalking gets a bit close in “Lies,” which still can tout a gorgeous setting, a group of appealing actors and a mastery of the art of wine-fueled conversation. Backed up, as is required, by a great bunch of ’60s hits.
Instead of a funeral that unites people, as in “Chill,” it’s a motorcycle accident involving Ludo (“The Artist’s” Oscar-winning Jean Dujardin). But his thirtysomething friends don’t let that interrupt their vacation on the beach in Bordeaux.
While there, flirtations and recriminations flare up, loves are revealed and friendships become strained. One guy (Benoît Magimel) isn’t physically neutered, as William Hurt’s Vietnam vet was in “Chill,” but does wrestle with overly affectionate feelings for his buddy Max (François Cluzet, giving another strong turn after this spring’s “The Intouchables”).
As Max grows obsessed with ferreting out the rodents hiding in the walls of the beach house — completely different from the bat that got into the huge South Carolina house in “Chill” — a studly bachelor (Gilles Lellouche) helps a dorky chum (Laurent Lafitte) obsessed with a girl.
Playing Ludo’s ex and the group’s mercurial beauty, Marion Cottilard is remote and sad-eyed. Writer-director Guillaume Canet, Cottilard’s partner, has provided the dusky Oscar-winner with a better role than in her recent English-language films, including “Paris at Midnight” and “The Dark Knight Rises.”
As a filmmaker, Canet has a light but cerebral touch, perfectly utilized in his previous film, the terrific French thriller “Tell No One.” He knows when not to show, and tell, too much.
That’s evident here, too. The boat rides and picnics we’re privy to are an enjoyable way to get to a bittersweet conclusion. Yet it’s hard not to feel like we’ve taken this trip before.
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