Harry un ami qui vous veut du bien (2000)

Director:

Dominik Moll

Writers:

Dominik Moll (scenario) and
Gilles Marchand (scenario) ...

Release Date:

15 August 2000 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Who needs enemies?

Plot:

Harry knew Michel in high school; they meet again by accident, Harry inserts himself in Michel's life... and things take a sinister turn.

Plot Keywords:

Writer | Writing | Vacation | Dentist | Multiple Murder

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 7 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Laurent Lucas	...	Michel
Sergi López	...	Harry (as Sergi Lopez)
Mathilde Seigner	...	Claire
Sophie Guillemin	...	Prune (Plum)
Liliane Rovère	...	Mother
Dominique Rozan	...	Father
Michel Fau	...	Eric
Victoire de Koster	...	Jeanne
Laurie Caminata	...	Sarah
Lorena Caminata	...	Iris

Also Known As:

Harry, He's Here to Help (International: English title) (UK) (original subtitled version)
Harry Is Here to Help (USA)
With a Friend Like Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien (USA) (complete title)
With a Friend Like Harry... (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some violence and a scene of nudity.

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:U | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Mexico:B | New Zealand:M | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Château Hôtel Mont-Royal, La Chapelle-en-Serval, Oise, France

Company:

Canal+

Quotes:

[on how to deal with difficult parents]
Harry Ballestero: You have to overreact.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Making of 'Harry un ami qui vous veut du bien' (2001) (V)

Soundtrack:

Ramona

Fine Graduation Piece from French Hitchcock Student

I'm surprised there aren't more comments about this film, because it is a truly excellent piece of entertainment in the cinema of menace genre. Ordinary guy Michel (Laurent Lucas), hot and bothered while taking his family on a summer vacation, meets up with Harry, a former schoolfriend (Sergi Lopez), who he doesn't remember, and who seems to be both rich and very solicitous of his welfare. When the family car breaks down, Harry buys them a new four-wheel drive (it seems that even the French have not escaped the sports utility craze). Clearly, there is something not healthy about Harry's interest but it takes a while for the real story to emerge, and there are some carefully observed and funny moments on the way.

It has been pointed out, and there are certainly signs, that Harry can be seen as the embodiment of some of Michel's darker feelings, particularly the feeling that the everyday demands of family life and work have prevented him from developing his talent as a writer. Michel also has a certain amount of resentment towards his parents, but the character of Harry grossly overreacts to Michel's `enemies' and in the end, of course it is Harry, the psychotic in all of us, who has to go.

The immediacy of the camera work puts us right in the picture, heightening the tension. There are a couple of scenes inside cars being driven on narrow mountain roads at night as scary as anything Hitchcock (obviously an influence on first-time director Dominik Moll) attempted, and the nearly 2 hours of running time passes very quickly. Great entertainment.