Maman Last Call (2005)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

François Bouvier

Writers:

Nathalie Petrowski (novel)
Nathalie Petrowski (screenplay)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Sophie Lorain	...	Alice Malenfant
Patrick Huard	...	Louis St-Amant
Stéphane Demers	...	James Beaulieu
Anne-Marie Cadieux	...	Myriam Monette
Patricia Nolin	...	Simone Malenfant
Julie LeBreton	...	Fanny Lemay
Anick Lemay	...	Carole Dion
Robert Toupin	...	Gaston Francoeur
Denis Bouchard	...	Marcel Levasseur
Charli Arcouette-Martineau	...	Roxanne - ado enceinte
Normand D'Amour	...	Paul
Emmanuel Bilodeau	...	Fernand (Homme couple)
Violette Chauveau	...	Femme couple
Sophie Bourgeois	...	Manon - barmaid
Nadia Drouin	...	Téléphoniste au journal

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Certification:

Canada:G (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Movie Connections:

Spin off Miss Météo (2005) (TV)

A good movie should stand on its own

This movie suffers from bad screenplay and general bad romantic comedy . Its story and dialogues draw on many clichés about "newspaper life" that most of us Québecois know from late 80's and early 90's TV shows. I sometimes felt like watching a bad episode of "Scoop" or "Lance & Compte".

It is sad to see that this film-making team thought their movie would do better with puns and references to public figures like Céline Dion or Gilles Proulx. Seems to me that any good movie should stand on its own, without trying to become partly a "Bye bye" or "Rira bien".

It also seems they tried to tackle too many political issues (tobacco, abortion), wishing to give a political flavor to the movie rather than developing cinematographic aspects.

Also evident in the movie are Petrowski's despise of the post-boomer generation and her pathetic attempts to glorify her own generation (making them look cool despite they are nearing 40, the picture was altogether fake). A few 'mots d'auteur' were too much. In this regard, Arcand is much more reasonable and efficient as a filmmaker, exploring this aspect more rationally and thoroughly.

I however appreciated Bouvier's reference to his (excellent) former co-directed movie, "Les matins infidèles", by naming Huard's morning radio show this way.

A spin-off focusing with the character played by A-M Cadieux was also made by more or less the same people.

A much more actual, modern, original, altogether better and funnier movie on a similar topic is "Horloge Biologique"; made by younger people.