|
MY BEST FRIEND (MON MEILLEUR AMI) Send This Review to a Friend
By now it is enough to spot the name Daniel Auteuil to make one want to see any film in which he is starring. “My Best Friend” is the latest example of Auteuil’s screen power. He is a most engaging actor, and when he focuses on creating a character, he never deviates from being completely true to that character. In “My Best Friend,” a French import directed by Patrice Leconte, Auteuil plays antique dealer François, whose totally self-centeredness has rendered him friendless. Can he find a friend in 10 days?
That’s the time limit imposed when his business partner Catherine (Julie Gayet) makes a bet calling for him to produce a best friend. François, desperate to win the wager, targets his friendly taxi driver Bruno, played by Dany Boon, who is also good appearing with Auteuil in another of this year’s imports, “The Valet.” François hopes Bruno can educate him about the art of making friends. Meanwhile, the two grow closer.
The film’s humor comes in the maneuvers along the way, and its serious moments stem from François’ betrayal of the friendship he believes to have formed. It turns out that Bruno has taken the friendship more seriously that François is able to live up to, given his devious ways.
Although this is a modest film, with a screenplay by Jérôme Tonnerre and Laconte from an original story by Olivier Dazat, it affords pleasures mainly as a result of the acting, not only by Auteuil, but by Boon and others. It is more successful when light-hearted, less so when it tries to be serious in examining the problems of friendship or the lack of it. But in either mode, the performances are on target. An IFC Films release.
|