Jean-Paul Bonnaire Movies
- 2008
Fate brings together two people with seemingly nothing in common in this French romantic comedy. Helene (Carole Bouquet) is a single mother living in an upscale apartment complex in Paris with her teenage son Jeremy (Jean Senejoux). Helene is a successful author and a bit of a control freak who lives a carefully ordered existence. However, the same can't be said for her new next-door neighbor Valentin (Marc Lavoine), an aging slacker has lost both his job and his flat and will be spending the next few months in his uncle's spare home in Paris. Helene is more than a little appalled with Valentin and his lack of ambition and fashion sense, but her cat keeps finding its way into his apartment, and they can't seem to avoid one another. Valentin also strikes up a friendship with Jeremy, who offers the sort of male role model that's been missing in his life. Despite her initial annoyance with Valentin, Helene begins to warm to her new neighbor, but can love stand a chance with this mismatched pair? ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Bouquet, Marc Lavoine, (more)
- 2007
Adapted from the same José Giovanni story that spawned Jean-Pierre Melville's classic 1966 film of the same name, director/screenwriter Alain Corneau's nail-biting thriller stars Daniel Auteuil as iconic French gangster Gustav "Gu" Minda and Monica Bellucci as the smoldering Manouche -- whose love for the notorious criminal knows no bounds. As the 1950s draw to a close, vicious convict Gu stages a daring escape from the prison where he had been serving a life sentence. Though Gu longs to flee from the country with his longtime lover Manouche, he must first complete one last job that will secure him the finances to do so; but with every policeman in the country currently searching for Gu, it isn't going to be easy. Gu has the fortitude and know-how of the most experienced criminal, and despite the fact that his staged hold-up goes down like clockwork, the police looking to capture him prove craftier than he ever anticipated. Inspector Blot (Michel Blanc) knows that Gu isn't likely to make any mistakes while procuring his funds for flight, so instead of trying to catch him in the act, he hatches an ingenious scheme to create dissent within the criminal ranks of his target. Blot's plan is to make Gu's gang think that their leader is now a police informer, and everyone buys the ruse except for Manouche. The steely-nerved Manouche knows Gu well enough to realize that he would never agree to work with the cops. Later, as things start to fall apart, Manouche prepares to pay the ultimate price to defend her beloved Gu and clear his name once and for all. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Auteuil, Monica Bellucci, (more)
- 2006
French helmer Christian Vincent's quirky labyrinthine comedy Quatre étoiles (AKA Stars, 2005) opens with a comely young girl named Franssou (nicknamed France) stumbling into a highly promising set of circumstances. Though France's great-great aunt feels less than completely enchanted with her, she wills the young girl an inheritance of 52,000 Euros ($62,000.00) on her deathbed. Upon receiving the money, France promptly ditches her dishwater-dull beau and high-tails it to a posh hotel in Cannes, where she falls into the lap of Stephane - a pushy flim-flam artist eager to pass himself off as Elton John's front man, then to hit France up for 30,000 of the Euros. Though France sees right through his ploy, she (surprisingly) agrees to the request - but nothing can compare Stephane for the conditions that France will impose - or for the genuine feelings that France begins to harbor for him. Or does she? Screen vet François Cluzet co-stars; Vincent co-authored the script with Olivier Dazat. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isabelle Carré, José Garcia, (more)
French producer and musician Christophe Barratier makes his directorial debut with the drama Les Choristes, inspired by the 1947 film La Cage aux Rossignols. Wildly successful orchestra conductor Pierre Morhange (Jacques Perrin) returns home when his mother dies. He recollects his childhood inspirations through the pages of a diary kept by his old music teacher Clément Mathieu (Gérard Jugnot). Back in the late '40s, little Pierre (Jean-Baptiste Maunier) is the badly behaved son of single mother Violette (Marie Bunel). He attends a dreary boarding school presided over by strict headmaster Rachin (François Berléand). New teacher Mathieu brightens up the place and organizes a choir, leading to the discovery of Pierre's musical talents. Featuring performances by Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc Choir. Les Choristes was shown at the Berlin Film Festival in 2004. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Jugnot, François Berléand, (more)
- 2003
French filmmaker Sam Karmann directs the crime drama A La Petite Semaine (Nickel and Dime), co-written with actual ex-con Desir Carre. When fiftysomething Jacques (Gerard Lanvin) gets released after serving five years in prison, he goes right to his local hangout and reunites with his old hoodlum friends in a working-class section of Montmarte. His friend Francis (Jacques Gamblin) has been taking acting classes, living with his mother (Liliane Rovere), and dating the waitress Camille (Julie Durand). His other friend, small-time crook Didier (Clovis Cornillac),has been gambling a lot, event though he and his wife Josiane (Sarah Haxaire) are expecting a baby. To the dismay of head criminal Marcel (Etienne Chicot), Jacques doesn't want to continue with a life of crime. A La Petite Semaine also stars Philippe Nahon as the bartender. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Lanvin, Jacques Gamblin, (more)
- 1999
- NR
The loosely interrelated romantic difficulties of six people living in Paris provide the framework for the drama Nos Vies Heureuses/Our Happy Lives. Cecile (Cecile Richard) is an impulsive bohemian who documents the lives of her friends with her camera. One of her closest friends is Emilie (Camille Japy), who is trying to work her way through a dying relationship with her boyfriend Antoine (Alain Beigel), even though he still seems to have feelings for her. Julie (Marie Payen) is on the rebound from a busted romance and falls for Ali (Sami Bouajila), a Moroccan who washes dishes in a restaurant and is having trouble staying in France. Ali's boss, a chef named Lucas (Jean-Michel Portal), has just watched his marriage crash and burn and is starting to ask himself serious questions about his sexual identity. The first feature after a series of highly praised short films from director Jacques Maillot (and quite a feature at 147 minutes), Nos Vies Heureuses/Our Happy Lives was shown in competition at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Payen, Cécile Richard, (more)
- 1986
In this comedy-drama, Manu (Gerard Lanvin) and Momo (Jacques Villeret) are two men who are at first unwittingly involved in a drug deal, but then get quite wittingly involved when they realize that there may be some money to be had in the sale of illegal substances. Once they decide to launch into this dubious vocation, they get caught in several difficult situations. On their supposed way to making a really big splash, they set out to steal drugs from the police station's confiscated stash. Disguised as cleaning women, the two men grab a vacuum and try to suck up as much white powder as they can. Their antics and the film's explicit sympathy for the two pushers caused some considerable controversy before the release date in France. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gérard Lanvin, Jacques Villeret, (more)
- 1986
In a routine look at what it means to finally leave adolescence behind -- even in one's mature years -- this series of mood swings and sequences focuses on two grown men. Francois (Jean Francois Stevenin, the director) and Leo (Yves Alonso) are old friends, and at one point they decide to go out and search for one of their childhood buddies, the brunt of several of their practical jokes. In true form, the men opt for playing yet another practical joke on their friend, but their plans backfire when his wife Helene (Carole Bouquet) comes into the picture instead. Her presence forces them to reconsider their shenanigans in a new light. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Bouquet, Yves Afonso, (more)
With an off-beat sense of humor to match its erratic central character, this original comedy-drama features Jean-Philippe Ecoffey as Yves, a young man who works as a cop at night. The catch is that Yves turns to petty crime during the day, partly to impress Aurore (Aurelle Doazan), a nurse he idolizes from afar. His criminal hobby seems hard to understand, since it's doubtful that they will really get him anywhere with Aurore; besides, she already has a boyfriend. Nevertheless, Yves starts out by robbing a post office and ends up trying to run over Aurore's boyfriend, an act which finally gets him into serious trouble. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Philippe Ecoffey, Aurelle Doazan, (more)
- 1984
This film noir tends to stay within very conventional plot lines, as the narration by the main protagonist, private detective Eugene Tarpon Jean-François Balmer, recites a dreary litany of how he wanted to chuck his profession until an attractive woman shows up asking him to investigate the murder of her roommate, a porno star. Soon Tarpon is up to his neck in trouble: the police, gangsters, and the victim's lover are all out to get him -- though none are innovative enough to enliven the story. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-François Balmer, Sandra Montaigu, (more)
- 1983
Not just another documentary on the French resistance movement, this film focuses on one particular group of underground fighters in France: those from Eastern Europe. Many were Jews and all had fled their native countries before the war broke out. They were among the most staunch and fearless enemies of fascism, as shown here in personal interviews and memoirs of war-time experiences. But the most famous of these immigrants were 23 who were rounded up among several hundred Parisians in 1943, tried for their activities, and executed -- all were immigrants under the leadership of the Armenian poet Manouchian. After their execution, Paris was papered with posters decrying these 23 martyrs as "foreign communists." ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Bonnaire
- 1981
- R
Set in Paris, this romance centers on a pair of lovers who wrangle over whether or not they want to marry and have children. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isabelle Adjani, Thierry Lhermitte, (more)
