Don't Worry, I'm Fine (2006)

Picked up for €1 at a car boot sale in Normandy as it had English subtitles mainly because it looked a promising subject. We certainly bought into this well acted story for 1hr30 although the film was about half way through before the searching began. However, the film then lost all credibility with a totally unrealistic explanation as to Loïc's disappearance. It is interesting to note the lavish praise other reviewers have heaped on the film given this glaring weakness in the screen play. It would have been better to have left the viewer uncertain as to Loïcs ultimate disposal. Hence only 4 stars. Have however sought out a further two films by the director.

This project almost didn't get off the ground artistically because it is loaded with so many inconsistencies and improbabilities. When the parents of 19-year-old Lili walk around like zombies, evade all attempts by the girl to learn her brother's whereabouts and generally bring the story to a halt, it's up to Melanie Laurent to inject as much life as she can into the plot. That she is so successful is a tribute to her great talent and charisma as a performer. The hospital scenes must have been especially difficult for her, but they work very well. I must say she looks very convincing as an anorexic. Aissa Maiga as Lili's friend and Julien Boisselier as her boyfriend also provide strong support (but Boisselier seems a bit too old for the part).Philippe Lioret on the basis of the three films of his I have seen, seems to be a capable but hardly inspired director. He relies a lot on the actors to drive his pictures.

Not so good. I don't put the blame on the actors, they're not bad (anyway, Laurent is probably the worst in the cast) but when you have a poor screenplay, that's the result. The characters are really stereotyped, no room for nuances; there's the nice guy, the good friend, the ignorant and racist shop owner, the psychologically fragile mother... Mind, this is nothing unbearable, but you would expect something more from a screenplay adapted from a book. The same is true for the main idea which is at the base of the story, I think it's simply not realistic. So, basically, you wait for something unexpected to happen but you're disappointed because everything is very predictable (and dull); this until the very end, when there's the big revelation with the unexpected twist, but frankly it's not realistic and unbelievable, so it's obvious you couldn't have predicted it. And don't forget Melanie Laurent: she plays the main character and she's always there, always with the same dull face. Thumbs down.

Elise is a young woman 19 years old who return home after having spent a school year in Spain. She meets again her parents and is surprised not to see her twin brother, Loïc. Her parents explain to her that her brother has left home after a violent quarrel with their father. But, she is astonished not to have received phone calls from him. She suspects that something arrived to her brother, but she has no means to get news from him. Then she decides to stop to eat. Her parents are obliged to send her to an hospital and it's only when she receives post cards from her brother that she stop her hunger strike. But things are not simple and she shall discover later truth about his brother disappearing. The movie is a very dramatic painting both on conflict between parents and child, but also on love that ties twin brother and sister. Acting is very good, specially for Mélanie Laurent and Kad Merad and I consider this movie as a great one.