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My Best Friend (2007)
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Reviews Counted:85
Fresh:64
Rotten:21
Average Rating:6.6/10
Consensus: Although the plot may sound contrived, the performances of Daniel Auteuil and Dany Boon manage to turn My Best Friend into an earnest and witty romp.
Theatrical Release:Jul 13, 2007 Limited
Box Office: $1,062,504
Synopsis: Francois is a middle-aged antique dealer. He has a stylish apartment and a fabulous life, but at a dinner with a group he considers his dearest acquaintances, he is blindsided by the revelation... Francois is a middle-aged antique dealer. He has a stylish apartment and a fabulous life, but at a dinner with a group he considers his dearest acquaintances, he is blindsided by the revelation that none of them actually likes him. He's arrogant, self-centered and harsh, and they don't believe he knows the meaning of friendship. His business partner Catherine makes him a bet: if he can produce his best friend, she will let him keep the massive Greek vase he acquired that afternoon on the company tab. If not, it's hers. Having accepted the wager, Francois naively tears through his address book, trying to shoehorn an increasingly unlikely series of contacts into the all-important role. Moving through Paris, he keeps encountering a trivia-spouting, big-hearted cabbie named Bruno. Bruno's chatty, lowbrow ways grate against Francois's designer temperament, but he covets the other man's easy way with people. He convinces Bruno to teach him how to make friends and sets about learning the "three S's" - being sociable, smiling and sincere - though they don't come easy. Ultimately, Francois victory will depend on Bruno's naivete in playing along, but what's the cost of cheating at friendship? Patrice Leconte, one of France's most renowned writer-directors, has often explored the theme of friendship in his award-winning films including MAN ON THE TRAIN, INTIMATE STRANGERS and THE HAIRDRESSER --© IFC Films [More]
Starring: Daniel Auteuil, Julie Gayet, Dany Boon, Jacques Mathou
Starring: Daniel Auteuil, Julie Gayet, Dany Boon, Jacques Mathou, Olivier Dazet
Director: Patrice Leconte
Director: Patrice Leconte
Screenwriter: Jerome Tonnerre
Producer: Olivier Delbosc, Marc Missonnier
Composer: Xavier Dermeliac
Studio: IFC Films
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Reviews for My Best Friend
You know that certain kind of foreign film? The one that just sort of sits there amiably and gets called stuff like "heartwarming" and "delightful" on the poster? ... My Best Friend fits snugly in the category above.
This is the type of dramatic comedy that often gets labelled as pleasant, which means that it is not laugh-out-loud funny and inoffensively hobbles along to an ending that could have been spotted miles away.
As an alleged witty comedy of humanistic charm, it sags in both, thanks to unfunny predicaments and a phony plot.
Often, to compensate for their smaller budgets, French films will substitute emotional or intellectual density and character development for costly production elements. But this also leads to high-concept farces of door-slamming simplicity.
My Best Friend's heart is in the right place, but its grasp on its characters isn't, well, the best.
The movie's reptilian setup doesn't do much to nurture a sense of mirth, and Auteuil is too likable an actor to make an effective SOB.
It's a pleasant enough diversion, but it's not really about human beings and contains not one genuine laugh.
If sex, gangsters, and killing Nazis are three of the most enlivening topics in the movies, then let us count friendship as one of the most tiresome, right up there with grooming horses and sharing for sheer thrills.
One looks to Leconte for some of the finest, most sophisticated and compassionate filmmaking coming out of France, not for a situation comedy.
Auteuil and Boon's appealing performances keep the film engaging throughout, but it's easy to pine for a dark, challenging film with this premise, pitched more toward a harrowing emotional reckoning than this film's ambiguous but inevitable happy ending.
Leconte is mainly drawn to sitcom scenarios, which might have been a reasonable tack to take if his material weren't so cautious and staid.
French filmmakers have often been at odds with the Hollywood juggernaut. With My Best Friend, Leconte seems to be throwing up his hands. If you can't beat them, join them.
Latest News for My Best Friend
September 10, 2008:
Wes Anderson Makes a New Best Friend ![]()
Universal and Imagine have lined up Wes Anderson to write (and possibly direct) a remake of the 2006 Patrice Leconte-directed French comedy "Mon meilleur ami." More...
October 14, 2007:
Another fascinating double character study courtesy of Patrice Leconte. ![]()
More...
July 12, 2007:
Critical Consensus: "Harry Potter" Is Certified Fresh; "Captivity" Fails To Capture Critics' Hearts
This week at the movies, we've got the latest in the "Harry Potter" series ("Order of the Phoenix," starring Daniel Radcliffe), and a tale of kidnapping and... More...
June 12, 2007:
Trailer & Poster review. ![]()
More...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 95% 95% | Star Trek |
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 67% 67% | Public Enemies |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 95% 95% | The Cove |
| 85% 85% | World's Greatest Dad |
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