My Best Friend (2006)

I don't watch a lot of foreign films. This is probably one of the few I've seen, let alone reviewed.I take comfort then in the fact that this is a good one to see.Full of funny observations on life and friendship, this is a lovely almost 'Odd Couple' style film that raises a few smiles along the way as it mixes humour and heart.I'd say try and find a copy online or on DVD, as it was a surprisingly enjoyable film.

It's very rarely do I get to see a film which is so masterful in telling a story. This has got to be one of the most charming films I have seen. It tells the story of a man who has thinks he has everything but in reality has nothing through his indifference to other people.His associates tell him that he has no friends which he denies only to find he truly has no friends and making one is not so easy when you aren't a pleasant person yourself. It shows him go through humility before learning the meaning of a true friend and in turn becoming a better and well liked person. Only when he stopped being selfish he began to realise how his actions have affected those around him. People here say the ending was weak but I thought it's very heartwarming and touching and it put a smile on my face. Simply magnificent.

Since I live in the US, I never saw any previews of this film. I think I can understand how some people were disappointed with it, if they'd seen a preview that promised a wacky comedy, and, instead, were delivered something else altogether.I've got to say that the "something else altogether" is what I absolutely loved about "My Best Friend" ("Mon Meilleur Ami").It definitely had its funny moments, and the actors were certainly on their game, but what really sold me was the sensitive story about two men (one clueless about friendship, and one sweetly gun-shy) who, after a series of blunders, betrayals, and misunderstandings, end up becoming best friends.If you're not too cynical, and have forgiveness in your heart, you will truly enjoy this sweet gem of a movie.

Writer-director Patrice Leconte takes a universal and potentially bottomless subject - friendship - and turns it into a flat and meaningless farce, despite A-list actors, fine cinematography and elegant production design. It's all in the plot, and the plot is laughable. "Teach me how to be likable", art dealer François Coste (Daniel Auteuil) tells a random stranger (Dany Boon), and that about sums it up. We learn next to nothing about friendship, and Daniel Auteuil may be a fine actor, but not one minute do we believe he could be the cut-throat egoist the script depends on him to be. Just as we hope the travesty is over, Leconte pulls one of his usual cathartic third acts, fast-forwarding from damage to disaster. Like François's treasured Greek vase, everyone and everything in this movie is a fake. Leconte's only asset is Julie Gayet in the part of Coste's business partner Catherine, looking swell and sexy despite a major mishap of a haircut.