CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Tim Kidner Cinemoi, the satellite French movie channel has been having a number of director Cedric Klapisch films showing on it recently; as well as this, Le Peril Jeune, his later 'Pot Luck' and 'Russian Dolls'.I'd never come across or heard of Klapisch before this spate and it's immediately obvious that he's very comfortable around and capable making and directing young people. There's a naturalness that comes across supremely easily; he is never patronising to either his audience or his actors and he's keen to show all aspects, from the good and happy to really quite dark and bad.Klapisch regular lead man, Romain Duris here plays Tomasi, whose friends gather as their pregnant friend Sophie's about to go into labour at the Paris maternity unit. Minus Tomasi, though as we're already told that he died just one month prior from an overdose and as they wait, they look back over and reminisce all the years when they met at school.We're talking about the 1970s and so all the fashions and music are here. Klapisch always seems to include sex scenes and here we get quite trippy drug-taking, too. All five of our characters were active in some rebellious pursuit or another and in the days of political activism, we see them fight for their causes. There's all the excitable antics of youth; showing off, exploring the opposite sex and much else, including living in a communal squat.Despite this film being almost unknown - look at the number of reviews here and on IMDb - this is a very well made and satisfying film, with a sparkling script. It doesn't take itself too seriously and you can just watch it as it is, without pretence or need of justification. Unlike some French drama, that can be 'charming' there's no room for whimsy here. And, not too exaggerated like many US youth films but believable and thus, satisfying. And because it's another culture to our own, endlessly fascinating, too.

WilliamCKH I like the way Klapisch brings these characters back together, through the birth of Tomasi and Sophie's baby. It's a great way to recall the memories of youth...waiting for a baby to be born.Tomasi has died and the group is discussing their memories of him, and of a time ten years before when they were carefree kids looking for love, friendship, meaning, in their lives. The vignettes that Klapisch has painted for this movie are full of bittersweet humor and energy. For example, the scenes where they're deciding what party to join, what demonstrations be part of, what organizations to form, trying to get into the feminists group. "If we form a club, we'd let you in". It shows young adults on the brink of adulthood, yet still able to fight the urge for responsibility, at least for a little while. It very much informs the viewer of later Klapisch works like L'auberge Espagnole and Les Poupees Russes. Klapsich is particularly adept at honing in on one character while at the same time the painting the periphery characters with the same multi-dimesional brush.It is both a sad and happy film at the end and very much true to life. There are no grand revelations in the characters, episodes of each of their lives are lived and they've moved on gradually maturing into who they've become. It is a story we can all relate to.

tnk This is one of the very few teenage movies that can be watched over and over again. It is the simple story of a group of teenagers in the mid 70s, with nothing really exceptional happening (no serial killers, no alien abductions,...), just the life of this group of teenagers who are very well written and acted : Almost everyone can find himself in one of the key figures of the movie. That's what makes it a movie you can watch over and over again. The plot manages to "link" intelligently the different sequences, a task in which most wanna-be realistic teenagers movies fail. For 70s music lovers, this movie contains a lot of 70s rock hits, so don't miss it !For a trip back in the Paris of the 70s, rent this tape - time machines are still too expensive !

McD Five guys meet ten years after high school and remember good times, reveal little secrets. A journey into their first joints, girls, riots...touching and very funny...a fresh laugh riot with a nostalgic background.