Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

bandw François (Daniel Auteuil) is a successful antique dealer, in business with his partner Catherine (Julie Gayet). At a birthday party the topic is broached that François has no friends. He becomes defensive about it and says that he does have friends. Catherine is dubious and bets him that within ten days he cannot prove to her that he has a best friend. If Catherine wins the bet, François will have to give over his interest in an expensive urn. That is the premise that sets the rest of the movie in motion. François contacts old acquaintances, thinking that they might attest to being a good friend, but to no avail. And so on.There are a couple of major flaws in this story. First off, either you have a close friend or you don't and, if you don't, you are not going to find one in ten days. Secondly, Auteuil, in appearance and behavior, simply cannot play a person high enough on the a**hole scale to be as friendless as he is presented to be. But, there would not be a movie this lighthearted if François is alone and rejected in the end, so coincidence has him meeting a rather sociable taxi driver, Bruno; from there things progress to the inevitable ending with some speed bumps thrown in along the way. The efforts for a feel-good ending border on fantasy. But the whole affair is agreeable enough, a strong point being a good cast. I particularly liked Julie Gayet. And, if you do want something a little deeper out of this, you can examine your own situation vis-a-vis friends. Can you distinguish between good friends, acquaintances, associates, people you see often? Do you have any relatives that you consider friends? Do you have an obvious best friend who is definitely more than a good friend? What does having a best friend mean to you? Stretching the definition of "best," do you have more than one friend you would put in the category of best friend? Does the whole concept of categorizing friends something you have thought about, or do you even reject that very idea?

Sebastian Antunez I actually watched this film on a crappy bus going from Rosario to Buenos Aires.The screen was really little and flickering. But the film was so good it actually caught my attention and I really liked it.One thing I could say was not too good is that you actually know how it's going to develop within the first minutes. It is quite predictable, but its point of view about friendship is really nice and makes you think about it too.It's something you can watch in family or of course, with your best friend.I really recommend this movie.

me22 Don't be taken in because the premise of this film is a good one. It is, but that, does not a good film, make.Comedies require a well-honed script and masterful direction. Sadly, this poorly executed film has neither. Leconte, a good director in other genres, does not deliver in his comedic farces (Les Bronzes series being another example).The comedic timing is terrible. Some jokes are telegraphed. Some are re-hashed from other movies. Others just sit there as if they were giving you time to laugh. The plot has messy subplots (the allergic daughter, the lesbian co-owner) and just does not develop or envelope the viewer. It isn't funny and it isn't believable for a second.Compare this to any comedy by Billy Wilder (Some Like it Hot, A Foreign Afair, etc.) or by Leconte's compatriot, Francis Veber, a true GENIUS at French comedy (Le Diner de Cons, Le Placard, Les Comperes, La Chevre, La Grande Blonde, etc.) and you'll see the difference in their tight scripts, great comedic acting and timing, with each joke leading to the next one.Watching Mon Meilleur Ami twice would be cruel and unusual punishment, not a good sign for a comedy.

richard_sleboe Writer-director Patrice Leconte takes a universal and potentially bottomless subject - friendship - and turns it into a flat and meaningless farce, despite A-list actors, fine cinematography and elegant production design. It's all in the plot, and the plot is laughable. "Teach me how to be likable", art dealer François Coste (Daniel Auteuil) tells a random stranger (Dany Boon), and that about sums it up. We learn next to nothing about friendship, and Daniel Auteuil may be a fine actor, but not one minute do we believe he could be the cut-throat egoist the script depends on him to be. Just as we hope the travesty is over, Leconte pulls one of his usual cathartic third acts, fast-forwarding from damage to disaster. Like François's treasured Greek vase, everyone and everything in this movie is a fake. Leconte's only asset is Julie Gayet in the part of Coste's business partner Catherine, looking swell and sexy despite a major mishap of a haircut.