J'veux pas que tu t'en ailles (2007) User Reviews

Romantic trio

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 24 May 2008]

What goes through a man's head when he is in bed with his much younger wife, Carla, and hears her say in her dream a name other than his own? Well, if you are Paul, a Parisian analyst, you try to decipher what was on her mind and what appears to be a sexual fantasy about another man. To make matters worse, Paul begins to treat Raphael, the man his wife seems to like.

The problem facing Paul is that his professional integrity is put in jeopardy when he realizes the effect Raphael, a young cook, has upon Carla. To make matters worse, Paul suddenly sees how the attraction is real. He must act to bring his wife's infatuation to an end. How he goes about it is another story.

That is basically the plot of this romantic comedy directed and created by Bernard Jeanjean. The film is helped by the three stars: Richard Berry, Judith Godreche and Julien Boisselier. This is an enjoyable movie because of the pacing Mr. Jeanjean has injected in the film. Mr. Berry does his best to give life to Paul. The beautiful Judith Godreche is an asset, and the same can be said about Mr. Boisselier. The result is a fun movie to watch because it has a right touch.

Good comedy, bad ending but enjoyable overall.

[stuka24 · 7/10 · 9 May 2009]

The plot is trite, but the way it's been carried out makes it funny. Specially if you are doing psychoanalysis :)!

Richard Berry is obviously a great actor, he carries the film on his shoulders. On the claws of a, say, Billy Crystal, it'd be a succession of tics, whereas Berry is believable. Even his smiles are done without much movement, like a sloth's. It reminds me of his even better "Karim Hamida" -the savvy undercover cop- at the great commercial film L'union sacrée (1989). Judith Godrèche is nice but I'm afraid something goes wrong in her role here (see later). Julien Boisselier's Raphaël is probably the most difficulty role. He's the playboy who easily drags women but, we take time to realize, fights loneliness. He gives his role the adequate mix of shallowness, experience with women, some vulnerabilities, and enough presence and intelligence given he's been used by who was, presumably, his healer.

Marc is fine in a supporting role. His face and allure made him born for the role. Lukas, their son, is a great child actor (very unusual).

I just can't believe "Carla" is the same actress of one of the best French films of all history, "Ridicule". Mathilde de Bellegarde was a fresh beauty, now she seems dull, hysterical, without anything to offer. I suppose the direction, plot or ... went very wrong, she's proved she's good at conveying emotions.

It's a pity funny and intelligent comedies like "48 heures par jour" and this one, start out right and end up following bourgeoise Diktat: "Marriage above all". Out of a sudden, they get along fine. Or so it seems. Were it an American film, we'd all trash it. As it's European, we may indulge into thinking it comes with the genre: "comedie". Enjoy!