Time Out (2001)
"L'emploi du temps" (original title)

An unemployed man finds his life sinking more and more into trouble as he hides his situation from his family and friends.

Director:

Laurent Cantet

Writers:

Robin Campillo (scenario), Laurent Cantet (scenario)

Stars:

Aurélien Recoing, Karin Viard, Serge Livrozet

5 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Aurélien Recoing	...	Vincent
Karin Viard	...	Muriel
Serge Livrozet	...	Jean-Michel
Jean-Pierre Mangeot	...	Father
Monique Mangeot	...	Mother
Nicolas Kalsch	...	Julien
Marie Cantet	...	Alice
Félix Cantet	...	Félix
Olivier Lejoubioux	...	Stan
Maxime Sassier	...	Nono
Elisabeth Joinet	...	Jeanne
Nigel Palmer	...	Jaffrey
Christophe Charles	...	Fred
Didier Perez	...	Philippe
Philippe Jouannet	...	Human resources director

Storyline

Recently fired from his job, but unable to confess the truth to his close-knit family, Vincent spends his days driving around the countryside, talking into his cell phone and staring into space. Vincent fabricates a new job for himself so his family and friends will not know that he is out of work. At one point, he even sneaks into an office building. As Vincent roams the building's sterile halls, peeking into meeting rooms where men are busy at work, we see a man who yearns not just for a new job, but also for a place in the world. While this pantomime of work initially registers as sad and even a little pathetic, it slowly and unnervingly becomes terrifying.

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Plot Keywords:

switzerland | cell phone | charade | smuggling | theft | 

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Taglines:

Now he must decide between his life of lies...or the truth.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sensuality

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

14 November 2001 (France)

Also Known As:

Time Out

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$19,978 (USA) (5 April 2002)

Gross:

$448,375 (USA) (23 August 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Haut et Court, Canal+, Centre Européen Cinématographique Rhône-Alpes

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Inspired by a true story, that of Jean-Claude Romand. In reality, Romand went on to kill, on January 9, 1993, his wife, two children and both his parents.

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Connections

Version of La vida de nadie (2002)

User Reviews

highly recommended mood movie

When Vincent--a tall, quiet, morose middle-aged man--is fired from his job, he finds himself unexpectedly cut loose from society and set adrift from life as he knows it. Instead of looking for a job, he casually cons some family and friends out of substantial chunks of money in order to support his wife and three children while he spends week after week driving through the European countryside in winter. A subdued but inescapable tension builds for the audience as we continually fail to understand what motivates Vincent to risk so much, and this tension becomes only more profound when we realize that Vincent himself does not understand his actions. "Time Out" is a hypnotically sad story told at a measured, melancholy pace with a haunting musical score that circumscribes Vincent's strange, incomprehensible mystery.