CQ2 (Seek You Too) (2004)

This picture was made with the sole purpose of showing us dazzling choreography, but does little by way of effective storytelling or dialog. Please understand: I give it any stars at all simply on account of the dancing, which is the picture's best feature. I also appreciate the writer and director's portrayal of dance as redemption, catharsis and cure. What was lost on me, however, was the cheesiness of the dialog, the cliché plot devices (girl runs away from rapist stepfather only to be raped near the end of a movie in a heart- wrenching and disturbingly stylized gang-bang), and the contrived situations laid out for the characters. Consider the rape scene at the end. Despite Rachel's screams for help, she goes unheard because the innkeeper is sawing wood and his girlfriend is listening to music on her walk- man. So let me get this straight, we're shown why they couldn't hear her screams, but then they manage, in spite of their obstructions, to hear her anyway? I mean, anyone could have believed a delayed reaction, why bother showing us unnecessary, if unbelievable obstacles that would have prevented the innkeeper and his gal from reacting immediately? They had to run a couple of minutes to get there anyway (they're way out in the boonies), why bother explaining that they couldn't get there right away? And then there's the cringe-worthy dialog. Not only are most of the lines delivered in an amateurish manner, but what the actors are given to say is nothing more than empty sentiment or none-too-subtle foreshadowing to move the plot along. And speaking of the plot: it seemed like each story element was fished out of different barrels, and upon putting them together, the writer took great pains to try to weave them together even if they didn't fit. Take, for example, the Danielle Hubbard character. At the beginning of the movie, she gets out of jail for unknown reasons. We find out, later, that she landed in jail because she injured a man who had just beaten the living crap out of some poor woman. His injuries are accidental. Why the Danielle Hubbard character ends up going to jail to begin with is kind of a mystery, considering she was clearly defending the victim. Plus, the man she injures ends up in a wheelchair, but is clearly obsessed with her after the incident, seeing her as his road to penitence and redemption. Why this man would not have gotten her out of jail sooner is also a head-scratcher. Near the end of the movie, the Danielle Hubbard character ends up in jail again. This time, it's because when she pushes one of the rapists to the side in an attempt to save Rachel, he accidentally lands gut-first on the pointed end of his swiss army knife. I guess that means she killed him, which is why she's in jail. I only wish the director had had the foresight to at least kill this character with a bigger, more threatening knife. I have a hard time imagining that he absolutely could not recover from his tiny wound. Heck, I'm sure the innkeeper could have stitched him up!Another story element that was never fully explained is why the Clara Furey character, Rachel, ever ended up hanging out so close to the jail where Danielle Hubbard's character was locked up. I mean, if the story had to go to such trouble to set up an unlikely encounter between two characters, doesn't it stand to reason that the story should have tried to figure out a simpler route for the two to meet?As for the portrayal of Rachel, I can't help but admire Clara Furey's passionate role-play, but it seemed to always remain at the same level. Rachel is understandably full of rage, but it seems to be the same rage, all the time, at the same volume and tone. I've also noted, based on other comments, that some of the dialog's awkwardness does not seem to come across to anglophone audiences, but francophone audiences seem to agree.To sum up, I see no reason to recommend this movie, other than to satisfy the same kind of strange fascination that ill- reputed movies, such as Showgirls, tend to feed.Hey, it's your time. Do with it what you will...

WON-DER-FUL !Unfortunately I watched just once this wonderful movie. (I hope one day I could buy the DVD if it is ever published...)The music is really great and the characters are marvelous. But what was the best were the choreographies. They were amazing ! I love dancing and after seeing this movie I think I never felt like dancing so much.Unhappily I could never watch it again, but if one day you can, just do it :)This movie is probably the best I've ever seen ! (Sorry for my very bad English but I'm a french student)

The resemblance between Rachel (Clara Furey) and her real-life mom (Carole Laure, director) is striking. This movie succeeds at undertaking difficult themes and weaving them with beautifully choreographed dance scenes (reminding some scenes of Carole Laure's music videoclips). Dance, here seems to be shown as a path for healing. The problem is that these interludes are somehow too frequent, and sometimes not very well integrated with the film. The general practice with Rachel and other young dancers is thrown in the middle of the film as if from nowhere, and drags on and on. Aside of that, the language level also bothered me. Dialogs didn't quite felt natural, and one could sense that the tension to render the French neutral (international) vs retaining some local flavour, was not handled very well.

I watched that movie last week in cinema. It's about young girl who doesn't know how to live with a mother who's given up life, just doesn't care about anything. The daughter's looking for life, acceptance, for someone who takes her seriously, and she's finally finding a dance teacher, fresh from jail, who seems to fit. She is patient, interested, does something in life, shows feelings, and does all a mother could be expected to, so she is willingly accepted as replacement mother ... But why was she in jail, and how will the story of those two end?The movie is about feelings and the need of someone caring about you, especially when your a teenager. Also it's about dancing, and the dancing scenes are brilliant. Plus the head actress, Clara Furey, is really cute. You should watch the movie, but always expect surprises, and not only good ones. Life isn't always nice to you.BTW, that movie won the prize of the Youth Jury of Tübingen's French Movie Festival 2004, where it was shown as a part of the quebecois section of the festival.