KylieRempel I have watched this movie, over and over and over again this year. I get the songs stuck in my head all the time.It's not your average boy meets girl musical. In this French musical, boy 1 and girl 1 are dating girl 2. They're happy and in for the most part in love as a triad.Then tragedy strikes their happy triad in a totally believable way. Suddenly boy 1 and girl 2 are left adrift. Boy 1 meets boy 2. Girl 2 has her own problems.It's a beautifully crafted piece of French cinema. Louis Garrel shines as Ismael and Ludivine Sagnier also does well as Julie.It's a movie, where the first time you watch it, you're never sure how it will turn out and the music is lovely and catchy. It's modern romance - things aren't so simple, people don't necessarily live happily ever after and it's refreshing to see that on film.

preppy-3 DEFINITE SPOILERS--GIVES AWAY THE ENDING TOO.This takes place in Paris (it's subtitled). There's three people who are sleeping and having sex together--Julie (Ludivine Sagnier), Alice (Clotilde Hesme) and Ismael (Louis Garrel). Then Julie dies suddenly of a blood clot. Alice seems to move on but Louis can't. Then a handsome young gay man named Erwann (Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet) falls in love with him. They have sex but is it what Ismael wants? The ending has a passionate kiss between Ismael and Erwann so I think they end up together.I'm going to ignore some of the homophobic reviews this movies has gotten. It's really sad in this day and age that people get so upset by seeing guys hug and kiss (by the way there's no explicit sex or gratuitous nudity here--unless you count the quick look at Erwann's butt). I found the movie involving and beautiful to watch. Also the gay sex and characters are handled realistically without dragging in stereotypes or offensive remarks. Even better it shows the main character getting over his loss. Sure, it's with a guy. So? That shouldn't be such a big deal. The sequence where the two guys start kissing and undressing to have sex is easily the most erotic and moving part of the movie. All the acting is good and everybody can sing. The songs fit the story perfectly. To be honest they're unmemorable but none of them are bad. This seems to mirror (in structure) "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg". It's in three sections like that movie but, other than that, the movie is totally different. It might not mean anything but I noticed it. This was barely released in the US (the ending might have something to do with that) but I caught it on the Sundance channel and LOVED it. Well worth catching but if you're a homophobic jerk don't bother.

mamlukman Wow. I read all the reviews, and the only conclusion I can come to is that all the other reviewers are gay. I'm not. I actually had to close my eyes during a certain scene. I really have no interest in seeing this sort of thing. This was a boring movie about uninteresting people. I'll go further: not just uninteresting, they inspired a sort of low-level loathing, although the main character eventually earned a high-level loathing. There was no cuteness, no clever dialog, no tension, no interesting characters. Songs? Why? They were just out of place. Blah. Now it COULD have been a much better movie--perhaps exploring different ways relatives and friends reacted to her death, or the relationship between Alice and the male character. Alice was just ignored after the tragedy. Does that make sense? Poor Ludivine, she must have needed the money to take this role.

dead47548 A perfect blend of playfulness, joy, sexuality and complete and utter tragedy. All of this is weaved in through the story and, more importantly, the songs themselves. The actors expertly portray every moment of it all, pouring their hearts into the songs whether it's a bouncy battle between two lovers with another lover in between or a lonely sister wishing for just one more hour of hope. I don't want to spoil a really big moment that provides all of that tragedy, but something happens relatively early on that floored me. Louis Garrel is an excellent lead and portal into all of these different people, and the supporting cast rounds everything off without missing a beat. The beautiful Ludivine Sagnier, the heartfelt Chiara Mastroianni and one of the most gorgeous women I've ever seen, Clotilde Hesme, are all brilliant. It swept me off my feet practically right off the bat and kept me floating throughout the whole thing. A fantastic movie, one of my favorites of '08 and of all time, for that matter.