Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

M A This movie is about the director's scepticism about monogamy, fidelity and last but not least, marriage.I believe the message Ozon is trying to get across through this movie is right in the conversation about relationships among the 2 pair of couples in the 2nd scene, and I think his belief was projected in what was said by the young boyfriend of the gay brother of Gilles, which in essence is that for some people, to settle for one person for his/her entire life is against human nature and disaster will be doomed to ensue.In my view, Gilles should not have got married at all and should probably remain single for his life. And Marion was obviously too untamed and not ready for marriage let alone raising a kid. A nice movie which features a few very beautiful scenes, the sharp contrast between the romantic dance of Marion's parents and Marion's immediate unfaithful adultery, the complicated emotions of a recently divorced couple trying to have sex which turned somewhat into a horrific "rape" which was somewhat "consented" by the woman's apparently reluctant submission, the dance between Marion, Gilles's brother and his boyfriend while Gilles was left alone in the sofa watching them. The music was first-rate and made the movie a soothing experience.

adinutzza2001 This movie left me really thinking and intrigued. With the final scene of the happy couple entering the sea, you can only remain shocked at how something so beautiful could go so terribly wrong. The answers become more and more clear with each phase of their relationship, the 5 key phases of being two, as the director viewed it. Watching it again I can only notice how every detail is very carefully thought and adds up something more about the nature of the characters and the holes crumbling their relationship. Going backwards from present to past through the phases of Marion and Giles' relation, from the divorce scene to the bright scene of the sea, the movie gets the viewer surprised and curious to discover what stands behind this painful failure. However, instead of leaving a bitter taste if all was chronological, the final contrast between what one sees and what one knows that happened is much more surprising and raises much more questions.The beginning shows the painful end of Marion and Giles' marriage, how incredibly much they grew apart. They talk about things, and we can see the complex resentments, maybe even hatreds, that have grown up between them. Gilles seems incredibly insecure and frustrated, while Marion looks patient and resigned , but actually unburdened to get away from their disintegrating relation. Then as the film moves backward starting from the divorce scene there are several moments that show what went terribly wrong...the mistakes and faults each of them had made.First comes the shocking confession Gilles makes in front of his brother and his boyfriend about the orgy he had joined, under the very eyes of his wife. The courage to do that and then the courage to tell the story in front of the other 3 looked so unbelievable, still they show the selfishness and hidden desires in Giles that were tearing their relationship. What I also found interesting in this scene is that the director doesn't actually see infidelity as a necessary cause of the problems. In the case of Giles'brother and his boyfriend trust, warmth and an open heart actually seem more important, and they're exactly the things that miss from Giles and Marion's relationship.Then the day of their son's birth, Marion lies in the maternity ward, suffering, while Gilles stands outside smoking, afraid to face the reality of what is going on. Then, aware of his cowardice, makes excuses for not coming to see his wife.Then his selfishness comes out again in the next scene, their wedding night. He falls asleep on the bed with little care, apparently half-drunk, while Marion was preparing for them to spend the night together. Marion resigns herself and goes outside for a walk, but in the night she meets a handsome American. The meeting though polite first almost turns into a rape, but though she could have avoided anything happening she gives in, without strength to control her desires.After this scene the holes in their relation came out strikingly. It becomes apparent how each of them suffers from their own form of selfishness, of being coward. They're both incapable of fidelity, of giving themselves to the other with whole heart cause they're filled by doubt, by hidden desires, by insecurity. The beginning of their relationship brings out even more clear all these fears. Marion is just coming out of a failed relationship and looking for affection, and Giles seems attracted by her insecurity and sweetness, because he was starting to feel insecure too with his partner. Both insecure and not ready to commit, but at the same time fearing to be alone, the very beginning of their relation seemed to start on the wrong foot.Looking at the whole movie, it seems that what never worked in their relation was communication. Loving each other in their own selfish way, they are unable to be honest about their own faults and desires and unable to commit, fearing they won't get the same in return, while the space between them grows permanently. After seeing the movie what intrigued me most was why each of them had become the way he was. What made them so unable to commit, him so selfish and her so patient and undetermined. Maybe the combination of their characters just brought out all their faults, maybe it was simply in their nature.I think "5x2" manages to emphasize the key details which finally lead to a failed relationship in this story of a marriage that looks so painfully real. The depth of the characters and the realism of the plot made it for me one movie worth watching and remembering.

leplatypus This movie wasted my time. Writing this review will not repeat this & I hope it will be useful for any potential viewers to know what they risk:The story is a reverse romance: from the ending to the meeting! But the morality of the couple is very loose: from rape to cheating (on wedding day!), among group sex or missing the child birth...Here's the menu delivered by a French "culturally correct" director.What's bothering me is the lack of his involvement: what's his message ? Maybe he dares to see what can happen under the veneer of relationships, but he offers no solution when bad things comes...Every one could have tell the same things. For a "talented" director, the audience can ask for more: so easy thus so forgettable !

gradyharp François Ozon (Swimming Pool, Under the Sand, 8 Women, Water Drops on Burning Rocks, etc) is a French director with a style of telling stories that is entirely his own. He seems to revel in challenging the audience to participate intellectually and emotionally in the common stories through which we daily walk. He doesn't strive for 'the big moment' or startling revelations: he is content to place a tale before us to encourage us to re-think our own existence, our parallel lives with those of his characters.'Cinq fois deux' (5X2) is a study of a couple who meet, fall in love, marry, have a child, and divorce. But the story is told in reverse: we begin during a meeting with the lawyers who present to Marion (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) a successful business woman, and to Gilles (Stéphane Freiss) and equally successful businessman the papers outlining their divorce settlement. All seems calm, yet after the signing the couple appears in a hotel room for one last sexual encounter that speaks volumes about their finished relationship. From that scene we move into the life they shared as a married couple with one child, a family that seems perfect, yet during a dinner party with Gilles' gay brother Christophe (Antoine Chappey) and his lover Mathieu (Marc Ruchmann) we begin to see parallels of relationship fallacies. We step back further to the wedding of Marion and Gilles where Marion's parents likewise illustrate marriages with both the sour and semi-sweet sides and the cards are on the table. And on their wedding night Gilles falls asleep on their marital bed and the frustrated Marion falls into the arms of an American stranger (Jason Tavassoli). A step further back to the courting days reveals more dissident threads, and finally the couple's original meeting at a seaside resort where Gilles is retreating with his then girlfriend Valérie (Géraldine Pailhas) suggests patterns of behavior that, knowing the ending because it was the beginning of the film, bring the audience into the realm of understanding.The cast is excellent, the lovemaking scenes are seductive and well filmed, and the transitions for the retrograde story are smooth and intriguing. The film allows us to examine three sets of relationships in detail and in doing so gives us insight as to just why trust is so important to success. Recommended. Grady Harp