Lionel Abelanski Movies

Recalling such prior efforts as the American farce Jungle 2 Jungle (1997), Gallic writer-director Olivier Baroux's coarse comedy Safari travels into the heart of darkest Africa, where a group of motley and eccentric travelers follow a shifty tour guide, gambler Richard Dacier (Kad Merad) on a journey through the jungle. En route, they encounter an array of nefarious types, including arms dealers, porn addicts, and misogynistic natives who debase their wives. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

A mischievous girl accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit, only to find that her words have irrevocably and permanently changed the lives of all involved in a film that re-teams the filmmakers behind Pride & Prejudice to adapt the best-selling 2002 novel by author Ian McEwan. The year is 1935, and as the summer heat takes hold, 13-year-old fledgling writer Briony Tallis watches her older sister, Cecilia (Keira Knightley), get undressed and go frolicking in the garden fountain on her family's country estate. The housekeeper's son, Robbie (James McAvoy), a childhood friend and recent Cambridge graduate, also witnesses the innocent act. When Robbie and Cecilia subsequently cross a particularly sensitive boundary and the scheming Briony accuses Robbie of an unspeakable transgression for which the boy is wholly innocent, the repercussions of her unfounded claim threaten to affect all three for decades to come. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A weary "hussier de justice" whose job it is to deliver the paperwork preceding eviction and seizure of property forges a warm but tenuous relationship with a doubtful bride-to-be in director Stephane Brize's melancholy slice of life drama. Jean-Claude is a dreary soul who inherited the thankless family business from his prickly, widowed father. Every Sunday the devoted son dutifully visits his elderly father in the nearby rest home, where the old man passes his time by heckling his put upon caretakers, and one day Jean-Claude notices a dance studio directly across from his drab office. Hoping that a tango lesson will provide the required jolt needed to shake him free of his midlife funk, the depressive Jean-Claude enrolls in a class only to find that one of his fellow students is a young woman for whom his mother once babysat. The bride-to-be of a teacher who has taken time out of the classroom to finish his ambitious first novel, the young woman is taking tango lessons in order to be properly prepared for her impending wedding. As a friendly bond develops between the pair over the course of the lessons, it soon becomes obvious that both are missing a crucial element of happiness in their lives. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

La Beuze is a drug comedy from France directed by François Desagnat and Thomas Sorriaux. Alphonse Brown (Michaël Youn), who firmly believes he is the bastard son of James Brown, meets up with his best friend Scotch (Vincent Desagnat) after Brown gets out of jail. On their way to Paris to begin careers as recording artists, the pair stumbles across a potent type of marijuana that was engineered by the Nazis. Their decision to begin selling the stuff leads to a variety of people chasing after them. The title is a French slang term for drugs. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

A group of medical therapists gets a new perspective on a patient's well-being in this drama with comic accents from France. Rene is a man in his early fifties who worked hard and led an active life until he was stricken with a degenerative disease that is slowly destroying his muscle tissues. Rene had already lost control of his legs when one of his arms begins to fail him, and he finds himself placed in an extended care facility for the physically and mentally handicapped, where he soon gains a reputation as a difficult patient. One day, while Julie (Nadia Kaci), one of the nurses, is tending to Rene, he announces that one of the reasons why he's so cranky is that he's desperate to have sex. Julie and her co-worker Sandrine (Chantal Neuwirth) ponder Rene's problem and decide they've been ignoring their patient's sexual needs, so they try to figure out what they can do for him. Rene is not averse to spending an evening with a prostitute, but they discover there are legal complications to this plan; if Julie or Sandrine obtain a hooker for Rene, they could be arrested for pimping, with the facility also liable. Searching for a loophole, Julie and Sandrine discover that they would be afforded legal protection if a doctor were willing to prescribe a session with a prostitute for Rene, but getting a doctor to write a script instructing Rene to pay a woman for sex is an uphill battle in itself. Meanwhile, Julie has her own love life to think about -- she's infatuated with self-centered therapist Jacques (Julien Boisselier), even though Roland (Lionel Abelanski), a drab but good-natured delivery man, is obviously in love with her. Shot on digital video, Nationale 7 was transferred to 35 mm film for its theatrical engagements; the film received its North American premiere at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Actor Yvan Attal follows up on his 1997 directorial debut of I've Got a Woman with this wry romantic comedy about a regular guy dealing with his wife's fame and career. Yvan (Attal) is a youngish sports writer who, through some improbable luck, finds himself happily married to the beautiful Charlotte (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a fantastically popular movie actress. All is going swimmingly for Yvan until a stranger plants the seeds of jealousy and doubt in his mind over his wife and her libertine profession. Meanwhile, Charlotte is in London, starring in a movie with a very seductive and sophisticated Terence Stamp. Soon misunderstandings pile upon misunderstanding until Yvan's marriage is on the verge of collapse. Can he keep his marriage together? This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

In this French fantasy-comedy, a magical moonbeam turns a dog into a man's best friend. Annabelle (Caroline Cellier) is a reporter who is sent on an overseas assignment and doesn't think it would be such a great idea to bring Didier, her Golden Retriever, along, so she leaves the pooch in the care of her friend Costa (Jean-Pierre Bacri). Costa is less than excited about being handed dogsitting duties, since he has enough on his mind as it is; he's the coach of a soccer team that has been playing poorly since their star player was sidelined with an injury, and his girlfriend has just given him his walking papers. But one evening a moonbeam glides over Didier, and suddenly the dog is magically transformed into a man (played by Alain Chabat), as luck would have it for Costa, a man who happens to be a really great soccer player. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide