Movie Watch! - Jeux d'enfants

Jeux d'enfants (English Title: Love Me If You Dare) (2003) - In the world of psychotic, twisted French cinema, this movie certainly works hard to cement its place high atop the insanity. Marion Cotillard, who recently won raves for her portrayal of Edith Piaf in La Vie en rose, plays Sophie Kowalsky, a pretty, lower-class Polish girl who becomes the best of friends with Julien Janvier, played by French heartthrob delicieux Guillaume Canet. Their childhood friendship is based on their absurd dares, trading off the craziest stunts and pranks with the simple phrase <>. The years go by, they grow closer, then apart, things get complicated and all that jazz. Director Yann Samuel has created a stunning visual delight. His colorful, dreamy France isn't quite Amelie romantic, but it has a captivating charm all its own. Ultimately, the film decidedly falls short, collapsing under the weight of two characters who I really wanted to love and adore, but ended up simply watching. I didn't cheer for them, as much as I wanted to. They're beautiful trainwrecks, yes, but like Lindsay Lohan, the emphasis is somehow more on the trainwreck part than the beautiful, which means they must be plenty crazy. Cotillard and Canet are cute and handsome and oh-so-charming when they aren't playing these characters, and I love the idea of l'amour fou, but here I just wished there wasn't such excessive neurosis. A mental trip, but still very much worth a watch. 6.5/10