Alice et Martin has its faults, but there's some real meat here, in the performances and direction.
Alice et Martin (1998)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:39
Fresh:26
Rotten:13
Average Rating:6.3/10
Synopsis: When ALICE ET MARTIN begins, Martin (Alexis Loret) is a young boy living a pleasant life with his hairdresser mother, when he learns that he is to go to live with his father, whom he hardly knows.... When ALICE ET MARTIN begins, Martin (Alexis Loret) is a young boy living a pleasant life with his hairdresser mother, when he learns that he is to go to live with his father, whom he hardly knows. Once in the care of his father--a cruel and cold man--Martin is extremely unhappy and attempts to fake illness in order to escape. When the film continues, it is ten years later and Martin is hurtling out the front door of his father's estate. Running recklessly into the French countryside, he spends the next several weeks living like an animal, feverish and hungry. Finally, he arrives at his brother Benjamin's doorstep, only to find Alice (Juliette Binoche), Benjamin's best friend and roommate practicing violin and annoyed at Martin's unannounced appearance. As Martin acclimates to Paris, he begins to fall in love with Alice, and once declared, their passion runs fast and wild, leaving Martin's brother and everyone else behind. While on a trip to Grenada, Alice reveals to Martin that she is pregnant and Martin falls sick with guilt and fear over elements of his past that he cannot reveal. As the two attempt to fight for their love, Martin faces his past and Alice realizes that her love for Martin is the most important thing in her life. [More]
Starring: Juliette Binoche, Alexis Loret, Mathieu Amalric, Carmen Maura
Starring: Juliette Binoche, Alexis Loret, Mathieu Amalric, Carmen Maura, Marthe Villalonga, Roschdy Zem, Pierre Maguelon
Director: André Téchiné
Director: André Téchiné
Screenwriter: André Téchiné, Gilles Taurand, Olivier Assayas
Producer: Alain Sarde
Composer: Philippe Sarde
Get This Movie
Reviews for Alice et Martin
I was disappointed to learn that the whole drama hinged on a single traumatic event, but in the meantime, I was happy to spend time with the people.
A combination mystery and character study in which the more we learn, the less we care.
A richly populated, observant film that suffers, forgivably, from an excess of curiosity about the world it depicts -- a surfeit of generosity, intelligence and art.
The plot and the love story thicken from there with ever-increasing melodramatic effect.
Oblique and random for the sake of being oblique and random... it gives you no reason to care until the film is half over
More than a coherent or even very interesting puzzle, the film is another occasion for you to work out your own relationship to Binoche, who remains, as ever, seductively distressed and distressingly seductive.
Low key and curiously devoid of thematic density, this is confident, but rather soulless film-making.
Téchiné, typically honest and generous, always allows the churning emotional undercurrents to take over.
The actors were all sweating their lines, which makes it seem as if they had to dig deep every time they said something.
Granada's Alhambra and engages the imagination particularly in one slow-motion shot that communicates the vastness of the sea and the insignificance of the human being when placed in contrast.
When it comes to movies about dysfunctional family relationships and emotionally damaged individuals, few active filmmakers do a better job than veteran French director André Techiné.
There are simply too many characters, and there's far too much story to explore in two hours. Rather than keep things simple, though, Techine plows wildly through the material, leaving loose ends strewn about.
Despite some glorious passages, Alice and Martin is play-act passion.
This awkward drama about romance, estrangement and what people are willing to do for love is such a structural mess that it's impossible to get lost in the strength of the performances.
It's an engaging, if slow-paced, story of a woman who falls in love with a troubled man, but this romantic drama has one glaring flaw -- it never offers any plausible reason why the relationship should exist.
(Andre) Techine seems oddly disengaged from the drama... and the film ends abruptly, unexpectedly, on a pleasing but dramatically underwhelming note.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 15% 15% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
RT On Current TV
DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
CloseSponsored Links
Around The Network
- Alice et Martin at Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh Links
Featured

The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox

Hollywood.com ponders whether or not an animated film could win Best Picture.

Richard Corliss previews the season's best offerings and hottest tickets.

The AV Club's Mike D'Angelo airs his beefs with Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men.
Promos

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!



Top Critic



