Nonureva Really Surprised!

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Brainsbell The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

FrankMMueller How far does one go to succeed? This is the question the movie 'Un homme idéal' deals with. In it, Pierre Niney plays the unsuccessful author Mathieu, to whom chance gives the diary of a dead man, which he unceremoniously transforms into his own novel and thus has the much-awaited mega-success. A small step with a big impact. Because at some point the world of literature expects a follow-up work and even worse, someone contacts Mathieu who has known the real author. Finally Mathieu is involved in a spiral of violence and lies, which gets its own momentum and can no longer be stopped ... Director Yann Gozlan presents a story in a stringent rhythm that Alfred Hitchcock probably would have loved. Like the master of suspense, Gozlan tumbles down the save world of his protagonist within a short moment and let him fight to survive. And just like Hitchcock, Gozlan manages that we feel sympathy for Mathieu, no matter how drastic the actions are he takes to uphold the dizziness. And with that, the director avoids giving a moral judgment on Mathieu, he leaves that to the viewer. 'Un homme idéal' is brilliantly staged with the camera, fluidly narrated, without fast cuts, logically constructed, in beautiful colors and in the present time a recovery for the eye. The story is without any length and gives a constant tension. After 104 minutes you wonder how fast the time has passed. The film is focused on its leading actor, this leaves the supporting players a little pale in their character, but that is criticism at the highest level. And that in the end one or two little things of the logic ago might be reconsidered, finally doesn't matter at all. The moral of the movie, without giving away too much, is the fact, that whoever climbs high can still fall a lot deeper. The end of the movie is suprising, harrowing and deeply touching. The film has consistently excellent actors, most notably the new French superstar Pierre Niney, here in Germany best known from Francois Ozon's 'Frantz' (in the UK probably with 'Yves Saint Laurent'). Pierre Niney comes from the theater (La Comédie Francaise) and can rightly be described as the greatest talent since Patrick Dewaere. So far, he has delivered outstanding performance in all of his films. At the moment he has huge success in France with a biopic about the french writer Romain Gary. Unfortunately, this film (La promesse de l 'aube) as well as 'Un homme idéal' has not yet found a German distributer and one wonders how it can be that every stupid crap is thrown on the market and successful films like 'Un homme idéal' (about 700.000 admissions in France) and 'La promesse de l'aube' (after 3 weeks already 750.000 admissions) can not find a german distributor !!! Who would not like to relinquish instead one of these unbearable real-life comic book films from the States ????

Rare Movie Critic This film was quite enjoyable and very thrilling, but I'm somewhat disappointed by its unfulfilled potential.Let's just say that the acting, directing, visuals, sound, everything was perfect, not standing ovation material (I don't believe people give standing ovations for editing or sound), but it was transparent. I saw the story and I was completely immersed. I did not notice any of the ingredients but that's the point, to get you in the story. Film is not a competition between visual artists, editors, cinematographers in seeing who can stand out. It's a team effort and in this case, it works very well.I have a tiny issue to nitpick with the editing - the passage of time is not shown. We don't know how much time has passed between events. Sometimes it's months, sometimes it's years. We have to wait for someone to say "It's been 3 years now" but that's not a great way of telling the story. "Show not tell" is the oft-repeated rule and as tiring as it is to hear and read, it needs to be repeated. There are many ways to show the passing of time. Montages, time-lapses, season changes, changes in hair or appearance. The flaw is that they showed Mathieu ask Alice on a date and then he meets her parents in their home. One would think that it's a few months into the relationship (meeting the parents for the first time) but it is later revealed that it is 3 years later. If the confusion of time were part of the story, that would be good, but it isn't.That tiny flaw is not something I would deduce points for, however.My real disappointment is that the start of this film, the plagiarist's road to fame was 10/10 and I wanted more. If it had continued down that road, I would put this film as one of my top 20 of all time. However, sadly, the film went another direction and made it a story of blackmail, extortion and a murder investigation.We already have tons of films about blackmail and extortion. People have a tape, a USB key, a photo, a witness, and someone has to find a way to buy silence and bury the truth. There are so many films about this topic. So many films about someone burying a body, faking a disappearance, worrying about the body resurfacing, day-dreaming and hallucinating of blood, seeing cops everywhere.I enjoyed the first part of the film so much, the hopeful artist, the plagiarist, his meteoric rise, the creating a persona from interviews and quotes. I wanted that to continue. I wanted him to double down on that, to go the route of Catch Me If You Can. He plagiarized his first novel with zero money, now he should be able to do it again and again, using his wealth to dig for the next novel, to scour writers workshops for ideas, to travel the world in search of another unpublished gem to steal.I wanted to see a film where a plagiarist realizes that a career of plagiarism is a full-time job. He has to keep publishing to keep up his lifestyle or people would call him a one-hit wonder. Instead, we have a film about a rich person trying to bury a secret. What the secret was (affair, real name, identity, criminal record) is irrelevant in this film.He is just a rich person struggling with debts, a secret, extortion and all he wants is to keep living in luxury.An enjoyable film nonetheless, even though I wished for more originality.

dakjets This film is an inventive and exciting thriller, which is solid and well made. The plot is about how wrong things can go when lies and ambitions coincide, and the price one must pay is very high. Here are no big effects, but rather a well-constructed story, which both frightens and fascinates. It is credible and the protagonist is both nasty and a person we get sympathy for. The film manages to show us booth sides of the main characters struggles to be somebody important. It also has several surprising elements, and a rich cast of characters. The lead role is a person we may also know a bit about. We want success, but not at any price. Where do we draw the line? Our man is willing to go very far, at horrible consequences. I will not reveal any of the content here, but would like to get that film has a surprise ending. A final I think works very well, and that also makes this film stand out from many others in its genre. There is some Hitchcock throughout the film, and it is of course intended as a compliment. It will certainly be an American version .... but this is good enough anyway.

Tom Dooley ** Mild Plot Spoiler warning** Mathieu wants to be a writer but his work gets binned by the publishers he sends it to. He works as a removals man and longs to be taken seriously for his 'art'. Then chance plays a hand and as he is clearing out an apartment of a deceased war veteran he happens on a manuscript written by the dead man of his war time adventures fighting in Algeria.Mathieu decides to write it up and take it as his own. The book is dynamite and his World changes for ever and for the better. However, the chance that his little ruse may be rumbled is an ever present risk and then fate comes calling a second time.Mathieu is played by the very Gallic Pierre Niney ('Yves St. Laurent') and he gives a physically demanding performance and makes it all look believable. He is comfortably supported by a super cast that includes the wonderful Ana Girardot ('Next time I'll aim for the heart'). The film is very stylistic too with great cinematography and just the right level of tension to keep you hanging on for more. It is one of those where you don't notice the time passing and that is high praise for any film. In French and around 100 minutes long this is for lovers of thrillers, French cinema or just a ruddy good story.