Put in charge of his young son, Alain leaves Belgium for Antibes to live with his sister and her husband as a family. Alain's bond with Stephanie, a killer whale trainer, grows deeper after Stephanie suffers a horrible accident.
Check out our gallery of the 2021 Golden Globe nominees in the leading and supporting acting categories, as the characters they so brilliantly played and in real life
Lonely and destitute, Alain leaves the north of France for his sister's house in Antibes after becoming the sole guardian of his estranged five-year-old son Sam. When he lands a job as a bouncer in a nearby nightclub, things quickly start to look up for the itinerant father and son. Then one night, after breaking up a fight in the club, he meets the radiant Stephanie, and slips her his number after dropping her off safely at home. Though her position on the high end of the social spectrum makes romance an unlikely prospect for the pair, a tragic accident at Marineland robs her of her legs, and finds her reaching out in desperation to him. Her spirit broken by the same tragedy that took her legs, she gradually finds the courage to go on living trough transcendent moments spent with him -- a man with precious little pity, but an enormous love of life.
In one scene, Ali nicknames Stéphanie "RoboCop". In 2012, Matthias Schoenaerts was considered by director José Padilha for the lead role in the remake RoboCop (2014), but he dropped out because he thought that he wasn't prepared for a big movie like that yet. Schoenaerts also worked with Paul Verhoeven, the director of the original RoboCop, in Black Book (2006). See more »
Goofs
When Ali first carries Stephanie to swim in the sea, as he lifts her off the sun lounger, the actress's real legs cast a shadow. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Sam:
I'm hungry. I'm hungry.
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Marion Cotillard in "Rust And Bone" gave my favorite performance in a long, long time. She is astonishing. Her performance here touched a personal cord with me and reminded me of actresses who've been able to transform me. Yes, that's exactly what she's done, transform me. She was able to awaken my sense of compassion and admiration. Simone Signnoret in "Room At The Top", Annie Girardot in "Rocco And His Brothers" Samantha Eggar in "The Collector", Charlotte Rampling in "The Night Porter" Those performances by those actresses not only instructed me as a man but inspired me. Now Marion Cotillard has done it again for me and I'm very grateful. As a bizarre note, she has been ignored by the Oscars, how is that possible?
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Marion Cotillard in "Rust And Bone" gave my favorite performance in a long, long time. She is astonishing. Her performance here touched a personal cord with me and reminded me of actresses who've been able to transform me. Yes, that's exactly what she's done, transform me. She was able to awaken my sense of compassion and admiration. Simone Signnoret in "Room At The Top", Annie Girardot in "Rocco And His Brothers" Samantha Eggar in "The Collector", Charlotte Rampling in "The Night Porter" Those performances by those actresses not only instructed me as a man but inspired me. Now Marion Cotillard has done it again for me and I'm very grateful. As a bizarre note, she has been ignored by the Oscars, how is that possible?