A young tough develops a taste for the classics when he falls for a girl who wants to be an actor in this drama from France. Krimo (Osman Elkharraz) is a streetwise teenager who doesn't have much to say to either his mother (Meriem Serbah) or his girlfriend, Magali (Aurelie Ganito), and plays tough guy with his friends. But Krimo has a creative side he doesn't share with everyone which he inherited from his father, and one day, after Magali has given him his walking papers, Krimo sees a pretty
girl named Lydia (Sara Forestier) who is arguing with a shopkeeper over the price of a dress. Krimo impulsively lends Lydia the money to pay for it, and learns that she's going to wear it in a school play, a classic drama by the 18th century author Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux. Intrigued, Krimo tags along to Lydia's rehearsal, and finds himself becoming increasingly fascinated with both the girl and the play. Lydia proves to be something of a taskmaster to work with, and when the show's leading man makes noises about dropping out, Krimo takes his place. However, not everyone is convinced Krimo has what it takes to pull off the role, including Lydia's best friend, Frida (Sabrina Ouazani). A box-office success in France, L'esquive (shown in North America as Games of Love and Chance) was a multiple-award winner at the 2005 Cesar Awards, the Gallic Academy Awards. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Kechiche extracts breathtakingly disciplined performances from all of his first-time actors, and truly magical ones from Forestier as the prematurely full-blown diva Lydia and Sabrina Ouazani as Frida, her motor-mouthed partner in theatrical crime.
Abdellatif Kechiche's beautifully observed tale of high-school kids in the projects outside Paris... plays like a Cassavetes project in a fresh, young mode.
Games of Love and Chance plays like a French version of Jim McKay's Our Song. But, unlike McKay's superior American version, Kechiche is unable to transform the everyday lives of his characters into something meaningful.
the positive messages of The Game... make it worthwhile, especially for younger auds with a spirit of adventure to see something not created for the multiplex
expertly evokes these kids' world, where a cell phone is an all important possession, hip hop slang the language of the day and their couplings the main topic of conversation.
I went to see L'Esquive (a.k.a. Games of Love and Chance) because I heard it took 4 Cesars, beating Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles and Les Choristes. The latter two happened to be the movies I enjoyed a lot so I expected L'Esquive would be terrifically GREAT too. But it was NOT and all I want to do is kick the *ss of
the judges who overrated this movies. Oh yes. You will find the big contrary between Krimo and the role he plays in the school play interesting－while he feels frustrated and confused about how to express his love for Lydia, he has to speak lines full of joy and admiration to his lover. But love is bitter and not as sweet as the lines go and you will see him fumble and stumble all the time. But the constant quarrels and shoutings between the teens are driving me crazy. They may be funny at first, but it turns out to annoy me. Also the police coming out of nowhere and treats the teens like they are serial killers and make you wonder "WTF". And the end. It makes you feel like you just watched an art film, but a FAKE one and leaves you unsatisfied when coming out of the theater. ***************I'm tired and I will talk about The Forest for the Trees tomorrow.
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