Jackie Berroyer Movies

A troubled and emotionally fragile woman finds herself at the center of a firestorm, in this gut-wrenching psychological drama from France. Screen veteran Isabelle Adjani (Les Soeurs Brontë, Ishtar) stars as Sonia Bergerac, an instructor at a school for "difficult" children. As if that role were not demanding enough, Sonia's husband suddenly and inexplicably leaves her, and she encounters considerable problems adjusting to her work environment. She thus finds herself careening toward a nervous breakdown, with seemingly no way to stop. Compounding matters is Sonia's decision to buck the principal's rule of no skirts for female teachers, a policy she resents. Sonia's world explodes into chaos one afternoon when she discovers a gun in one of her students' bags. Acting spontaneously and indignantly, she seizes it and fires an accidental shot, wounding one pupil's leg. The incident gets misread and draws untoward attention, and before long parents, politicians, law officers and the media surround the school and turn an unfortunate incident into a full-blown hostage crisis that may well push Sonia over the edge of sanity. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A bourgeois office drone whose raison d'état is the music of French rocker Johnny Hallyday awakens one day in an alternate universe where the famed musician never recorded a single song. When he's not at the office dutifully plugging-away, Fabrice (Fabrice Luchini) lives a deadly dull life in the suburbs of Paris with his bored wife (Guilaine Londez) and rebellious teenage daughter (Elodie Bollee). The only thing that ignites passion in Fabrice's lifeless existence is the music of Johnny Hallyday, and every chance the smitten Fabrice gets he ventures up into the attic to worship at the shrine he has built to the larger-than-life pop icon. One night while drunkenly shuffling home, Fabrice goads on a quick-tempered neighbor and earns a stiff punch in the nose for his efforts. Upon awakening to discover that his elaborate rock star shrine is now a simple collection of beer cans, Fabrice calls to report a burglary to police. Strangely enough, no one - not even the police or his wife - has ever heard the name Johnny Hallyday. Subsequently, Fabrice makes it his mission in life to locate Hallyday and get him behind a microphone by any means necessary. Though the world's biggest Johnny Halliday fan does indeed eventually stumble across a bowling alley proprietor (Hallyday) who was once an aspiring teenage rock star, he soon finds his efforts to revive the failed singer's career thwarted in the most unexpected of ways. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

When the Sea Rises... is the first film written and directed by actress Yolande Moreau (who also stars in the film) and cinematographer Gilles Porte (who also shot the film). Moreau stars as Irène, who is traveling the north of France performing her one-woman show. In the stage show, Irène plays a loud, obese, ugly (she wears a clownish mask) woman who comically confesses murder to the audience. At each performance, she pulls a random man out of the crowd and makes him her accomplice/lover in a mock robbery. One day on the road, Irène's car breaks down, and Dries (Wim Willaert) happens by on his scooter and rescues her. She gratefully gives him tickets to that night's performance. Spotting him with his friends in the audience, she pulls him up on stage, making him her "chicken" for that show. After the show, Dries and his friends invite her out for a drink. The next night, Dries shows up in the audience again, but gets thrown out when he gets into an argument with some rude latecomers. Irène catches him in her dressing room after the show, and gives him hell. But outside, she sees he's been in a fight and had his tires slashed, so she gives him a ride home. Dries is also a performer of sorts, building and operating giant costumes for parades throughout the region. Irène has a husband and child waiting for her back home, but she's caught off guard by Dries' attentions. When she leaves town, he impulsively follows, and the two fall into an unlikely romance. When the Sea Rises... was shown by the Film Society of Lincoln Center as part of their 2005 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Claire (Lola Naymark of Monsieur Ibrahim) is a teenager who works as a supermarket cashier. She has moved out of her family's home and into a small apartment, partly because she doesn't get along with her parents, and partly because she doesn't want them to find out that she's pregnant. When co-workers begin to comment on her weight gain, Claire tells them she has cancer, and asks for medical leave. While staying with her girlfriend's family, Claire learns that her girlfriend's scarred brother, Guillaume (Thomas Laroppe), was in a motorbike accident, in which his best friend was killed. Guillaume is despondent and has decided to go abroad. Since Claire is looking for work, and has an interest in embroidery, she goes to visit the mother of Guillaume's dead friend. After some hesitation, Madame Mélikian (Ariane Ascaride of The Town Is Quiet) hires Claire to replace her late son as her assistant. Madame Mélikian has a successful business and a wealth of knowledge to pass on to the young woman, but she's nearly paralyzed by her grief. Still, the two eventually form a unique bond. Brodeuses, or Sequins, is the first feature film directed by Éléonore Faucher, who co-wrote the screenplay with Gaëlle Macé. It was shown at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and was selected by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art for inclusion in the 2005 edition of New Directors/New Films. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Frederic Jardin directs this enjoyably nasty showbiz farce starring a veritable who's who of Gallic comedy. Elderly milquetoast Jacques Soeur (Denis Podalydes) has written a 450-page tome which his brother Charlies Souer (Jose Garcia) longs to direct. After making no progress in the tried and true method of hawking to studio execs, the two brothers take to videotaping producer Francis France (Jackie Berroyer) engaging in a little extramarital merry-making. When confronted with the incriminating evidence, France sends his thick-headed thug out to retrieve the master tape, with unforeseen consequences. Meanwhile, the duo kidnap renowned screenwriter Blaise (Edouard Baer) to slick up their script, not realizing that Blaise is an unrepentant smack fiend. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

A former schoolteacher turned film distributor, Jean-Pierre Jackson made his directorial debut with this French comedy about two losers. When alimony payments catch up with Felix (Philippe Chevaillier), his furniture is seized. After a decade-long marriage, Raoul (Regis Laspales) leaves his wife. The two team for a job with Le Gai Vendangeur (The Jolly Vintner) as sales reps, but they score zero while tooling around Brittany in a silly station wagon decorated with an immense wine bottle atop the vehicle's roof. However, when they're joined by friendly, sexy Eliane (Cecile Bois), sales surge. The wine pours, and so does the money. Life is sweet, but it all turns sour when an affair begins between Felix and Eliane, much to Raoul's regret. The film's soundtrack includes Xavier Cugat. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

The 50th film from legendary French New Wave writer and director Claude Chabrol is a typically Hitchcockian comic thriller about a pair of con artists. Up to now, the duo of Betty (Isabelle Huppert) and Victor (Michel Serrault) have contented themselves to small scams at hotel conventions, such as spiking the drink of a gambler, then rolling him for his winnings after he follows the flirtatious Betty back to his room and passes out. It then develops that, for the past year, without telling Victor, Betty has been plotting an enormous score involving Maurice (François Cluzet), the treasurer of an international corporation, who's planning to abscond with a briefcase containing five million Swiss francs in syndicate money. Betty's plan is for Victor to swap an identical briefcase with Maurice's and walk away with the jackpot, but Victor becomes suspicious of Betty's solo venture. Is his once-loyal partner betraying him? What about Maurice, who's no fool, and his gangster bosses, who will surely want their money returned? A dizzying array of potential double-crosses muddles the question of who's grifting who in the Betty-Victor-Maurice triangle. Rien Ne Va Plus (1997) screened at several film festivals under the English-language title The Swindle. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

American actor-director Arnold Barkus made this low-budget French film, a comedy set in New York, with scenes taking place in Chinatown, in a Franco-Greek cabaret, and on the Brooklyn Bridge. Brooklyn-born Max (Barkus) suspects his girlfriend Sophia has been cheating on him. His French pal Jean (Jackie Berroyer) and a young woman, Vita (Maria de Medeiros), step in with a scheme to get back at Sophia, a character who is never seen during the entire film. Included is a parody of the Russian roulette scene from The Deer Hunter (1978). Dialogue is in English and French. The screenplay by Barkus and Berroyer is adapted from Berroyer's novel La Femme de Berroyer est Plus Belle Que Toi, Connasse! ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

The mid-life crisis of a middle-aged, depressive college professor/author provides the center of this French character study. Abel Vichac has really let himself go. Though a successful writer, and supposedly working on a book about 'regret,' he is barely functioning. He can't sleep at night. During the day he is easily distracted, irresponsible and moody. He also ignores his patient live-in lover Aliette who has stuck by him for 10 years. As he mopes through another day, he gets into several awkward occasions. One of his students, Florence tells him off in a café. A young woman, Catherine hears this and afterward introduces herself as a fan. Later he decides to find her address and visit her apartment. There Abel meets Catherine's roommate Aurore and the former's jealous boyfriend Bruno for a tense scene. He is returning home when Abel encounters his brother's former lover Olga and this creates more awkwardness. It all reaches the breaking point when Babel attends a birthday party, goes skinny dipping, and then has a telling encounter with a gun. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi