Little White Lies (2010)

A near-fatal accident leaves one friend in the hospital while the rest go on their annual vacation. But their secrets and personal grief threaten to drive them apart.

Director:

Guillaume Canet

Writer:

Guillaume Canet (scenario and dialogue)

Stars:

François Cluzet, Marion Cotillard, Benoît Magimel

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
François Cluzet	...	Max Cantara
Marion Cotillard	...	Marie
Benoît Magimel	...	Vincent Ribaud
Gilles Lellouche	...	Éric
Jean Dujardin	...	Ludo
Laurent Lafitte	...	Antoine
Valérie Bonneton	...	Véronique Cantara
Pascale Arbillot	...	Isabelle Ribaud
Anne Marivin	...	Juliette
Louise Monot	...	Léa
Joël Dupuch	...	Jean-Louis
Hocine Mérabet	...	Nassim
Matthieu Chedid	...	Raphaël
Maxim Nucci	...	Franck
Néo Broca	...	Elliot

Storyline

Every year, Max, a successful restaurant owner, and Véro, his eco-friendly wife invite a merry group of friends to their beautiful beach house to celebrate Antoine's birthday and kick-start the vacation. But, this year, before they all leave Paris, their buddy Ludo is hurt in a serious accident, which sets off a dramatic chain of reactions and emotional responses. The eagerly anticipated vacation leads each of the protagonists to raise the little veils that for years they have draped over what bothers and upsets them. Pretenses become increasingly hard to keep up. Until the moment when the truth finally catches up with them all...

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Plot Keywords:

unrequited love | gay | vacation | secret | restaurant | 

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Taglines:

The one thing friends can't escape is a few home truths.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The French title "Les Petits Mouchoirs" refers to an idiomatic expression that is similar to the English term "Sweeping something under the rug". You cover something up with a napkin or a handkerchief and pretend it's no longer there even though everyone knows it is. The English term "Little White Lies" is a similar if not identical concept.

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Goofs

Eric sends a text message to Marie's cell phone to call him back urgently, while he is in the restaurant with the blonde actress. Marie's cell phone beeps when receiving this text message, but when Marie opens the text message, the cell phone's display shows that it is set on mute ("silencieux").

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Connections

Referenced in Rock'n Roll (2017)

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Soundtracks

Cold Water
Written and performed by Damien Rice

User Reviews

Laughter and tears and good actors… what more do you want?

I went to see Les Petits Mouchoirs yesterday and loved every minute of it. And since there are 154 minutes of it, there is a whole lot to love! Yes, this movie lasts for two and a half hours but it certainly did not feel long to me at all.

I thought that the acting was very natural and the people were very real: wow, they even looked like normal people (except for Marion Cotillard who is out-of-this-world-beautiful); a feeling that I feel oftentimes is missing in Hollywood movies where only the dork is normal (= ugly) and the rest of the actors are nothing but overly gorgeous. Obviously some out of the ordinary circumstances occur - otherwise there would be no movie, would there? nobody wants to watch me go to work and do my groceries for two and a half hours - but the way the situations were dealt with made me feel like Les Petit Mouchoirs was a depiction of a slice of life. I laughed out loud on several occasions, but at the end also had a wet sleeve from drying my tears. And in that respect I feel very differently from one previous poster who feels that the acting was weak in the dramatic parts of the movie; I thought the acting was superb.

I definitely recommend this movie, I thought it was highly entertaining and an evening well-spent.

Details

Official Sites:

Europa Corp. [France] Official Facebook [United Kingdom]

Country:

France Belgium

Language:

French

Release Date:

20 October 2010 (France)

Also Known As:

Little White Lies

Filming Locations:

Avenue Marceau, Paris 8, Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

EUR15,268,310 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$25,654, 26 August 2012

Gross USA:

$206,088

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$53,319,615

Company Credits

Production Co:

Trésor Films, EuropaCorp, Caneo Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

154 min 134 min (theatrical)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1