User reviews

Basically I'm British and am not really supposed to like the French, I'm not sure why, I think it's something to do with Agincourt, Napoleon and the Eurovision Song Contest. Despite this I am frankly enamored with them because they're so much cooler than we could ever be.

It is because they are so comfortable in their own skin that they can get away with movies which would be embarrassing if made by the British and ghastly if made by the Americans. "À la folie... pas du tout" falls into this category. Sartre had a gift for doing philosophy in a hip, wine drinking, story telling, bohemian way. This movie has done a disturbing, psychological, tragic romance in a beautiful, sumptuous, fist-bitingly lovely way. I'm sure it's something to do with being French.

The only thing that irked me was that the script and plot were both repeatedly, albeit momentarily, clumsy. For a movie so graceful in terms of acting and direction it was sad that the screenplay couldn't quite keep pace.

On the upside the acting was great. I'm probably biased as it's only a profound laziness that stops me stalking Audrey Tautou, but she was marvelous. The story moved quickly and even the marginally avant garde perspective shift was beautifully achieved. The conclusion is wonderfully dark and leaves you feeling that the plot has been going somewhere and that you've arrived there quite unexpectedly.

Had the script been a little more polished I'd have given it more marks. Having said that I don't expect that anybody involved in the movie will be crying themselves to sleep because some random internet bloke has given them 8 out of 10. Having said that if Audrey Tautou should happen to stumble across this review my address is...

Watch it you'll enjoy it.

This is an interesting story of obsessive love. We first explore the story from her point of view, then his. Given the main plot idea of obsessive love, it invites a comparison to "Fatal Attraction". This is a much better film. The plot is more interesting, with solid acting. There are a lot of inferences as to what happened in the film. We aren't spoon-fed the entire plot.

I found it to be quite enjoyable.

Audrey Tautou is in my opinion the greatest rising star of the French cinema. Coming from a tradition that does not lack great actors, beautiful divas, living legends, and huge comedians, Audrey seems to bring together talent and beauty, huge interior and exterior beauty. Some compared her with the other Audrey - Hepburn, but in my opinion the French star talent exceeds by light-years the one of the American.

'A la folie...' is an interesting film by itself. An apparent tragic love story is being told from one of the partners angle in the first half of the movie - just to be re-told from the other partner perspective in the second part. The second half and the end hide a twist. Both script and film are cleverly written though made by a script-writer and director (Laetitia Colombani) only at her second film. I am expecting good things from her in the future.

Worth seeing - 8/10 on my personal scale.

This "thriller lite" tells of innocence and victimization, and relies as much on its structural twists as on Audrey Tautou's saucer eyes and Samuel Le Bihan's hunkiness. You might even call it a black comedy, with lots of freshness and style. The best way to view this is to go in cold, relax, and let it grab you by the arm and gently drag you in.

That said, it is not really a romance, although people who like romances will find enough roses and hand-drawn artwork here to please. If you are one of those who generally refuses to see movies with "love" in the title, consider that "love" isn't in the original French title, so rest assured you can watch this without reservation.

Audrey Tautou might at first sight seem to be an actress with limitations, but most of what goes through in her character's heads are shown in the eyes.

This starts as a family comedy about the innocent girl sending her loved one flowers and other presents. But it gets worse and in the end you're watching a thriller that doesn't make you feel at ease. It becomes a story of life and death and not just in the physical way.

The story is told from two view points. It remains exciting anyway.

I would first like to start this review with a warning. This is not a romantic comedy, as you would probably presume by looking at the cover of this box. That is what I thought when I first discovered this 'gem' of a film. I picked it up to enjoy with my wife, and strangely, I found myself enjoying it more than her.

Without giving too much away (or more than already has by others), this is a twisted story where we, as viewers, have the opportunity to see the plot unfold from both of our main characters. Audrey Tautou takes a devilishly good turn from her innocent character in Amelie to play an artist who falls in love … or so we think. As we watch her whirlwind romance with a married man hit their ups and downs like any normal relationship, we get comfortable and stable with the film … then suddenly it changes. We rewind backwards and are shown the story through the eyes of her 'boyfriend'. Our image of this film enhances as we are handed the unexpected.

This was a beautiful film. From not only the cinematography, but also the characters and the story. This was a rarity. It is not often that you find a film of this caliber in today's modern cinema. Normally, films have a very structured story with its theme defined early within the film. Not this masterpiece. If you assume that you know this film prior to finishing it, then you will be the laughing stock of the town. I have seen several films in my lifetime, and I can honestly say that I never saw this story unfolding. I was one of those that expected the beginning to be the entire story … boy, was I surprised.

Tautou carries this film on her bare shoulders. She gives a stunning performance as a woman with a heart full of love for a man that she encounters. Her turn from Amelie proves that she is a very versatile actor.

She emotionally pulls you from your seat and glues you to the screen. Add to this the sheer brilliance of the story; with all of its twists and turns, and powerful cast that only accentuates Tautou's absurdity only helps propel this story from average to amazing.

This is one of those films that I can watch time and time again without it loosing its appeal. I would suggest it for anyone that has ever had a secret admirer. For anyone that has obsessed over anyone from afar, this is the film for you. A-la Sliding Doors, this film was impressive.

Grade: ***** out of *****

Be careful about reading these reviews because almost anything can be a spoiler. I'll just say that the DVD cover, the movie posters, marketing and even the movie title are deceptively breezy. No, this ain't Amelie. Rather, this movie delves pretty deep into the twisted workings of the human mind. It's very cleverly done in a non-linear fashion (like Citizen Kane, Rashomon, or my favourite Gilligan's Island episodes where we see the same thing from different points of view).

The acting is superb, and the direction is right on par. The only gripe I have with this film is that due to its stealthy presentation it sometimes suffers from an identity crisis. I believe this could have been remedied with a more dynamic musical score (that is, it would have been more powerful if the music reflected the changes in the film's "personality"). There may have been other minor flaws which prevent me from giving this film a higher rating, but overall it was a worthwhile experience.

I didn't know what to expect when I saw this. I'm an American living in France and my girlfriend is French and rents all the French movies for me. This is one of those mixed genre movies that actually works! Audrey Tautou is so charming and capable as an actress that she makes you root for her even when you know she's playing someone completely crazy. She's already the biggest, most successful actress here in France and she's going to get even bigger. She's got what it takes to play different characters and she shows that in this movie.

The director brilliantly pieces together the two halves of this movie and by the end, it is believable. We almost wanted to watch it again so we can catch the tricks but we didn't have time.

Anyway this is a great French treat and for those of you who liked Tautou in "Amelie" and "A Very Long Engagement" you're going to like her in this one too.

It's really hard to talk about this movie without giving something away. I'll give away as little as possible, but my recommendation would be, stop reading this or any other review and just watch the movie, it's very good.

Since I don't want to give anything away I can't say much about the story. It starts as a movie about a cute, sweet girl in love, and the movie's use of an actress who exudes sweetness and innocence makes what happens as the movie progresses all the more startling. The movie is devoted to its one central trick, and what's notable is not the trick - lots of movies have tricks - but how much time is spent in showing off the filmmaker's cleverness. This could have been annoying or self indulgent but I enjoyed it. Some people won't be surprised - I'm really not as good as guessing twists as a lot of people (which is why I consider the movie Matchstick Men to be so poor in spite of good reviews; that one I guessed straight through to the end early on) - but I was surprised and quite delighted.

The age old story of unrequited love, and all of the torture that it brings...or is it? This is the story of Angelique (Audrey Tautou of Amelie) who is desperately in love with Loic (Samuel Le Bihan). Loic is married and refuses to leave his pregnant wife for Angelique.

The story is told first from Angelique's point of view, and shows the pain she suffers, and the attempts she makes to win her love. Then, we see things from Loic's point of view, which is astonishing.

This is a fascinating example of story-telling. The plot has a very interesting and unexpected twist. I hesitate to go into much detail about the plot for fear of spoiling the surprise, but I will say this story stands distinctly apart from the drab, predictable plots, and neat endings that we are so used to in American movies. Audrey Tautou is wonderful. She has such an expressive way about her. My prediction is that her popularity in film will only continue to grow.

My chief complaint in regards to this film is that apart from the way the story is presented, it lacks originality. However, the execution of the story is often 80% of it's value, so I find this to be a fairly minor complaint. I was also a little disappointed with the ending. It seemed a trifle contrived. Overall, I don't hesitate to highly recommend this film, but watch it from the beginning, don't tune in on cable halfway through the flick. As I said, without the plot twist, the story lacks originality. Don't miss how the story unfolds.

After playing Amelie, the bizarre personal qualities of Audrey Tautou which I never thought could be so perfectly matched to any other role were once again matched just as perfectly to this extreme role, in which she delivers one of the greatest psychotic character creations in the history of the cinema. How can such a smiling, angelic, elfin creature as the delightful Audrey possibly be so completely and dangerously insane? Well, they say that psychotics smile too much, and this proves it. This is a study in extreme 'erotomania'. Lest that be misunderstood, I need to stress that there is not one erotic scene in this film, and that the word refers to a psychotic love fixation on someone you barely know, or perhaps don't know at all. I don't want to give too much away, but I need to say that the film shows the story from two points of view, hers (Audrey's) and his (Samuel Le Bihan, who is inspired and harrowing as the object of the obsession). The script is so spectacularly brilliant and ingeniously-plotted that this film joins 'l'Appartement' and 'Tell No One' as one of the best-crafted thriller scripts of the last twenty years in any country. It was written by the director Laetitia Colombani (aged 31/2, the same as Audrey Tautou) and Caroline Thivel. They should have had a Cesar for it. The direction is wonderful, paced to perfection, inspired, chilling, indeed terrifying. What a triumph. And anyone who believed Audrey Tautou could not surpass herself was wrong.

Not a bad movie, for sure... Tatou is as charming as in Amelie, and no complaint either about the other actors... But you do kinda know which way the movie is going, so the gimmick of telling the same story twice from two different perspectives wasn't even necessary if you'd ask me... 6/10.

"He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (À la folie... pas du tout)" is a marvelous French twist.

The re-wind technique of different perspectives, descended from the Japanese "Rashomon," has combined entertainment with philosophical insight by the German Tom Tykwer, in such as "Run Lola Run," and with socio-political commentary in the Mexican "Amores Perros." Add in the American know-how of creepiness from "Fatal Attraction" and "One Hour Photo," and the French writer/director Laetitia Colombani, mais oui, applies it all to matters of the heart.

She uses both a rational and visual approach to an enormously entertaining take on "she says, he says"/"he loves she who is in love with he who is in love with she" etc. that is an unpredictable roller coaster.

One lead character is a cardiologist (the particularly hunky Samuel Le Bihan) and the other plays on our expectations of that gamin par excellence Audrey Tautou of "Amelie." We see her at first surrounded by flowers and heart decorations so of course our sympathies go out to her. Ah, how our interpretation of those wide black eyes can change! And if only Hollywood actresses would be willing to allow their images to be so cleverly manipulated.

Our other stereotypical assumptions also lead to other surprises. Unlike Hollywood, this movie respects our intelligence, and leaves us to figure out what's going on and anticipate what will happen after the end.

Just like it took awhile to feel good about "Singing in the Rain" after seeing "Clockwork Orange" and a certain classic rock song after "Reservoir Dogs," you may get a frisson of the creepies from Nat King Cole after this.

While you not may feel good at the end about particular characters and what they have done or will do, you will feel good about moviemaking and going to the movies.

This is a film for Audrey Tatou's fans.

The young directress, from "Mes stars et moi" does very feminine films, not in the best sense. Perfect setting, chic everything, Art is all around, romance is all that matters, nutty, hysterical women, catchy pop tunes... Tatou does Angelique, but supposedly "mad" now. As she's not convincing at all, the movie falters.

Beautiful Isabelle Carré, who starred "Maman est folle" and played the little girl in the gifted "Les enfants du marais", plays the doctor's wife, a character which never really leaves ground. Interestingly enough, she starred "Anna O." where she's, guess what, a loner who becomes in mad love with her doctor. ...

Clément Sibony, who starred "l'envol" with Isabelle, is reportedly pretty handsome according to my female company while watching the film. He's very convincing in an unconvincing role. Nice Élodie Navarre, from Reporters (TV) and Love, etc. is wasted here, her character suddenly gains importance, for then disappearing. Héloïse's character is insipid, which is a pity for it probably was supposed to serve as counterbalance to Angélique, but goes off the story at the time it should be more present, that is, in the last 1/3rd of the movie.

I've been told from a reputable cinema buff this film is a rip-off from "Fatal attraction" and the less obvious "The Crush (1993)" starring Alicia Silverstone as a 14 year old, the same mental age than Ángelique.

I never understood the genre of the film. Creative Amazon reviewer Simon (ON) writes "romantic thriller" which is probably even right, although it proves that him as well as other reviewers can be more intelligent than the film itself.

"He Loves Me...He Loves Me Not" is a glowingly photographed, seamlessly directed, and well-acted (especially by Samuel Le Bihan) French thriller... but the script isn't quite as clever as it thinks it is; most of the surprises in the second half will be transparent for attentive viewers (the fact that nearly every review discusses the central concept doesn't help). The movie basically serves up the old "Fatal Attraction" tale in a slightly new way, and expects us to be wowed. Well, we aren't. (**)

It's truly a whimsical journey into the complex, dual-sided world of love and obsession through the lens of He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not. Directed by Laetitia Colombani, this film invites us to explore the intricate facets of the human heart and the kaleidoscope of emotions that accompany it.

The narrative unfolds with a clever twist, presenting two parallel stories-one from the perspective of Angélique, a devoted art student, and the other from the viewpoint of Dr. Loïc Le Garrec, a happily married cardiologist. The film dances between these two perspectives, leaving us to decipher the enigmatic puzzle of their intertwined lives. Audrey Tautou's portrayal of Angélique is nothing short of mesmerizing. Her character's infatuation with her beloved doctor sets the stage for a riveting exploration of obsession. The film's narrative keeps us guessing, mirroring the way love can be both enchanting and bewildering.

The storytelling in He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not is as intricate as the brush strokes of a pointillist painting. We are slowly drawn into the captivating world of Angélique, her devotion to Dr. Le Garrec, and the escalating consequences of her actions, as this film leads us on a captivating journey through the labyrinth of love's complexities. Throughout the film, we see how love and obsession can blur the lines of reality. The storytelling is a masterful exploration of how our emotions can shape our perception of the world.

The cinematography captures the essence of small-town charm and the timeless beauty of coastal France. The visuals reflect the tranquil and picturesque setting, while the characters' turmoil reminds us that, even in idyllic surroundings, love and obsession can create turbulent waves.

In He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, we witness love's duality-the delicate balance between passion and obsession, affection and possession. The film encourages us to contemplate the nature of love, perception, and the fine line between devotion and delusion. It's a thought-provoking journey that reminds us that love is a multifaceted prism, with emotions that can shift and evolve. It's a cinematic experience that challenges our understanding of love and obsession, leaving us to ponder the intricate mosaic of the human heart.

"He Loves Me..." shows us about 30 minutes of a story involving a young woman in love with a married man from her perspective. Then the film rewinds (literally) and shows us the same story from the married man's perspective. Then it finishes with a less than satisfying denouement. A good production effort by most standards, "He Loves Me..." trades character depth for story and delivers its love triangle tale in an unnecessarily convoluted way for no reason other than novelty. A coulda, shoula been better flick with only a moderate level of appreciation from critics and public alike, "He Loves Me...." compromises its Frenchness. The French make great people films. This isn't one of them. (B-)

Audrey Tatou portrays Angelique; a beautiful and talented art student who falls deeply in love with married cardiologist Loïc. Over the first half of this movie, they plan how he will escape from his unhappy marriage, his pregnant wife and live an idyllic existence together. Initially, the story focuses on Angelique's point of view; we see her conspiring with her treacherous paramour, leaving voice mail messages and sending love letters and as such, this appears to be no more than a conventional, if rather sordid tale of betrayal and marital infidelity. However, half way through the movie, our perspective changes, and now we see the story through the eyes of Angelique's object of desire; Loïc. Without giving away the ingenious premise, I will say that the story is not as straightforward as it first appears. Our preconceptions and expectations are challenged, and the personalities of the participants are laid bare. This is a sometimes uncomfortable examination of obsession and the lengths human beings will go to in the name of love.