You'll Get Over It

I'll never get tired of cute-gay-boys-coming-out stories, and this is no exception. But it left me a little hollow. The storyline with dealing with his parents is left unfinished, as it is especially with his brother, who rejects him seemingly out of homophobia but whose true issues are revealed, and undealt-with, in his last scene. The subplots with the homophobic teammates, the sympathetic teacher, and the older sex partner were also left as loose ends.

The scene with the creepy Marais was completely gratuitous, with friends of Vincent's sex partner who fling themselves at him in a way that seemed not just slimy but completely unrealistic, as well.

In all, I thought that "Get Real" was a more masterful treatment of a very similar subject, and "Edge of Seventeen" better still. But this one is certainly a feast for the eyes, and if you like the "aawwwwwww! he's cute and gay and 17 and coming out!" factor as much as I do, this won't waste your time.

A sensitive film about both "coming out" and "coming of age," "You'll Get Over It" tells of a 17-year-old French boy's efforts to deal with his homosexuality. A championship swimmer, Vincent is a popular, well-liked kid at school and the apple of his parents' eyes at home. The problem is that Vincent is living a lie, keeping his sexuality a secret from his family, his two best friends, and the world at large. When Vincent is seen "consorting" with a suspected gay student, all hell breaks loose and Vincent is forced to deal with not only the reactions of those around him but the roiling emotions taking place deep within himself about what exactly it means to be gay.

Although the film feels a little too pat, contrived and melodramatic at times - kind of like an After School Special with subtitles and occasional flashes of nudity - "You'll Get Over It" wins us over with the delicacy, insight and compassion it brings to its subject. It shows us the myriad and sometimes surprising reactions from the people in Vincent's life - his parents, his "girlfriend," his best friend, his team mates, his swim coach and his teachers. The amount of outright persecution Vincent has to endure from his fellow students shows that even France - so often thought of as being in the forefront of all things sexual - has a long way to go in accepting gays. The movie also deals with Vincent's own conflicting feelings about being gay, as he contemplates a future filled with what he imagines to be loneliness and unhappiness. Like many gay people, Vincent lives in as much of a state of denial at times as the people around him.

The performances are excellent, particularly those by Julien Baumgartner as Vincent and Julia Maravel as Noemie, the girl who loves him and wants to help him, but who finds it hard to let go of him even after she discovers the truth. Baumgartner has a very expressive face that allows us to understand and identify with the external and internal struggles taking place in his character's life.

For the most part, "You'll Get Over It" has a nice, naturalistic feel to it. Director Fabrice Cazeneuve keeps his camera largely hand-held and close to the actors, which heightens the sense of realism and intimacy this type of story needs to be effective. Unfortunately, the plot mechanics do intrude a bit from time to time, and the ending, while touching, does feel a little too conveniently upbeat to be entirely convincing. Still, "You'll Get Over It" serves as a valuable plea for understanding and acceptance, and that is a salutary goal for any film.

I admitt, the presence in cast of Julien Baumgartner was the initial main motif to see this film. The basic virtue of it - beautiful acting of Julia Maraval.

A simple story of highschool. A young swimmer , a dark secret, a sort of trap and the effort to resist against homophobia of his mates and brother.

Few admirable scenes - the reaction to the delicate sugestions of literature teacher beins splendid for its high realism, like the self examination of his body front to mirror.

A honest perspective, with a too sweet end , a poem about friendship, beautiful for gentle manner to reflect a bitter reality and for the nuances of teen efforts to answer to the near people.

I expected a lot of this movie, that is why I was terribly

disappointed. The German title "Alles wegen Benjamin" made me

think that Benjamin was one of the main characters, but in fact, he

didn't appear in most of the film. I didn't even understand why he

should have been the reason for that suddenly everybody thought

Vincent was gay. I read a lot of plot summaries before watching

this movie, and it always seemed to me as if there would be a kind

of relationship between Vincent and Benjamin. At least, Vincent

had a sort-of-boyfriend, Bruno, but he was a very weak character

and not so important for the story. It was not a bad movie after all, quite realistic and sensitive. I

probably would have liked it a lot if I hadn't expected more to

happen between the two boys. "À Cause D'un Garçon" was one of

the better kind of coming-out movies, although there were still

many things that could have been better. But only because it didn't

fulfill my imaginations, this doesn't have to mean that nobody will

like it!

This is a beautiful film about a seventeen-year-old swimming champion who is sexually outed in high school, and rather than deny his gayness, admits it and then gets to work dealing with it. I saw this at a gay film festival under the name of "You'll Get Over It," but I gather it was originally shown on prime time television in France, where I hope it reached a broad audience. Bravo to the French, who seem to be the masters of all things regarding love and sensuality.

The lead character's name, Vincent Molina, is the also the name of the writer of the screenplay. I wonder how autobiographical this story is?

Generally, I wouldn't recommend that a young gay guy come out until he is free and on his own in the world, not living under the roof of his parents or still in repressive, dangerous high school. But then again, to follow such a recommendation would be to waste so many precious, significant years when the hormones are screaming and the participants are at the peak of their physical beauty. How many of us would love to have the chance to go back to those days and this time do them right? Sure, as this movie so well shows, coming out at such an early age is extremely difficult emotionally, socially, and physically, and to do so is definitely beyond the abilities of most. But to do so is also phenomenally empowering to those who manage it. The huge set-back and loss in status that seems to accompanying coming out is later revealed to be merely pulled backward in a SLINGSHOT, after which there is a letting go and a powerful projection forward that puts one far, far ahead in the game.

Vincent, the swimmer, has a lot to lose. He's a beloved athletic champion with adoring fans, he has a luscious girlfriend who loves him and with whom he is having sex, he has respectful teammates and a best friend, and parents for whom he is the apple of their eye. He also has a male sex partner on the sly, but even though Vincent's true nature is better known by the sex partner, that's about all that the sex partner knows or cares about, so the relationships that truly matter are with the others in Vicent's life who did not know about his true sexual orientation.

Despite the beauty and sensitivity of the film, and the story of the hero being a gay student instead of it being a misfit, what really keeps this from being a typical teenage coming out story is the masterful ability of the lead actor to express the complexity of the emotions via his use of the interplay of subtle facial expressions. A lot of the time he seems to be in a state of blank questioning, as if he were not sure what to do next, and that if he were going to proceed, it would have to be very cautiously. And yet, it is clear that from now on, he will only proceed genuinely--he was aware that previously he had been using a mask (and it was his only shame), but now he isn't sure how to dispense with the mask or what will compose his face now that the mask is gone, he only knows that he won't be able to use a mask any more. His every step would take him into unknown territory, and the actor genuinely expresses the reality of those insecurities and the feelings of hopes, fears, wishes, disappointments, hurts, promises, comfort-seeking, sexual interest, and more, all playing out a fascinating symphony across his face.

The movie is clear that the burden of self-identity rests clearly on the shoulders of the individual, but it also underscores the principle that helpmates will come out of the woodwork to support a genuine individual who is willing to be real. The losses are painful, but the gains bring an overriding joy that is beyond measure.