Romain Legrand Movies

Women try to persuade their men to put a stop to war in this fusion of comedy and drama from director, screenwriter, and actress Nadine Labaki. Amale (Labaki) runs a café in a small Lebanese village where the local women, both Christian and Muslim, get together to talk, swap ideas, and share grief as the number who've lost sons or husbands in frequent skirmishes continues to grow. The fighting between religious and political factions has been going on for years, and one day Amale and her friends Afaf (Layla Hakim), Saydeh (Antoinette Noufaily), Takla (Claude Baz Moussawbaa), and Yvonne (Yvonne Maalouf) decide it's time to stop talking about the fighting and do something to bring it to a halt. The local women join forces to distract their men, convinced if they put their minds on other things they won't worry so much about killing. Their efforts range from serving hashish-laced baked goods at a community get-together to hiring Ukrainian dancers to show off their charms to the menfolk. After a young man is killed in a gun battle, the women realize they need to take a stronger stand if they intend to make their home safe again; meanwhile, Christian Amale unwittingly strikes a blow for religious unity when she falls for handsome Muslim Rabih (Julien Farhat). Et Maintenant On Va Ou? (aka Where Do We Go Now?) won the People's Choice Award at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

An espionage agent begins working against his own country for the good of the world in this drama based on a true story. Sergei Grigoriev (Emir Kusturica) is a Soviet intelligence operative who has become deeply disillusioned with life under Communism -- while he believes in the ideals the U.S.S.R. was founded upon, he feels they have been become hopelessly compromised by their current leadership, and that the old government must be brought down for the sake of future generations. With this in mind, Grigoriev strikes up a friendship with Pierre Froment (Guillaume Canet), a French engineer who is living and working in Moscow and has no idea his new pal is a spy. Once Grigoriev has gained Froment's confidence, he begins passing classified documents along to Froment with the understanding that they will then be forwarded to French intelligence. It soon becomes clear that what Grigoriev has to share are American state secrets and classified scientific documents confirming the KGB has been digging deep into U.S. security; when the CIA finds out just how much the Russians know, it sparks an international incident and fierce reprisals against the U.S.S.R. Directed by Christian Carion, L'Affaire Farewell (aka Farewell) was based on the true story of KGB agent Vladimir Vetrov; the film also stars Fred Ward, Willem Dafoe, and David Soul. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Precocious 11-year-old Paloma (Garance LeGuillermic) befriends prickly, homely janitor Renée (Josiane Balasko) and bears witness to a most unlikely romance in director Mona Achache's adaptation of author Muriel Barbery's best-seller. A young girl prone to deep philosophizing, Paloma is acutely aware of life's disappointments. Her parents hardly acknowledge her existence, and unless things start to look up soon Paloma plans to simply commit suicide. Matronly Renée is the custodian in the building where Paloma lives with her parents. In her spare time, Renée likes nothing better than to curl up with a good book from her extensive personal library. The frumpy building superintendent has just relegated herself to a life alone when courteous Japanese businessman Kakuro (Togo Igawa) moves in and sees something in her that most people don't. But Paloma isn't like most people, and perhaps if the young cupid can find a way to get Renée and Kakuro together, she'll finally have enough evidence to conclude that life is well worth living, despite the daily struggles we must all endure. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A mother and daughter find themselves dealing with surprisingly similar romantic difficulties in this light-hearted French comedy. Lola (Christa Theret) is a pretty fourteen-year-old girl living with her mother Anne (Sophie Marceau), who is divorced from Alain (Alexandre Astier), Lola's dad. Young Lola has been taking her first steps into teenage romance, and has been dating a boy from her class named Arthur (Felix Moati), but when she decides to break things off with him, the situation becomes tense after Lola starts seeing his close friend Mael (Jeremy Kapone). Meanwhile, as a typical child of divorce Lola likes to play her mother and father against each other for her own advantage, but what she doesn't know is that Anne and Alain have begun dating again on the sly. Written and directed by Lisa Azuelos, Lol features music from Supergrass, Blur, Keane and Junesex. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Neophyte director Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt's French-language romantic comedy Odette Toulemonde concerns the unlikeliest of relationships that develops between two Parisians. The title character (Catherine Frot) is a forty-year-old saleswoman, saddled with two children (an adolescent daughter and a hairdresser son), who spends her days hawking cosmetics from behind the counter of a Parisian department store. Odette has absolutely no reason to feel limitless joy or to retain a bright, positive outlook on life, but experiences both - thanks in no small part to the novels of her favorite author, Balthazar Balsan (Albert Dupontel). Meanwhile, Balsan ostensibly has everything - money, fame, success - and yet feels unbridled emptiness inside. These two lives suddenly intersect and complement each other in fantastic and unexpected ways. Nicolas Buysse, Jacques Weber, Nina Drecq and Fabrice Murgia co-star; Schmitt authored the original script. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

"What would you think if I shaved my moustache?" asks Marc (Vincent Lindon) of his wife, Agnès (Emmanuelle Devos), one fateful night as they prepare to visit friends for dinner. She's never seen him without it, but while she goes to do some last-minute shopping, he impulsively shaves the moustache off. Thus begins a tragic odyssey that leads Marc to question every relationship in his life, and even his own identity. Marc's journey into darkness begins when Agnès returns home. At first, he playfully tries to conceal what he's done. When he finally reveals his bare face to her, with a flourish, her reaction is...nonexistent. She baffles him by appearing not to notice the change. Confused, he says nothing, and they proceed with their plans for the evening. When the couple's friends Serge (Mathieu Amalric) and Nadia (Macha Polikarpova) also fail to make note of the change in Marc's appearance, he begins to get angry, believing that Agnès is playing an elaborate prank on him. In the car on the way home, he loses his temper, and it's her turn to be baffled. What moustache? How can she have noticed that he shaved his moustache when he's never had one? While Agnès begins to question her husband's sanity, Marc frantically searches for evidence of his former facial hair. Things only get worse for Marc, as no one at his job remembers him having a moustache either, and before long, he discovers that there are other details of his life that only he remembers. The Moustache marks the directorial debut of Emmanuel Carrère, who adapted his own novel with Jérôme Beaujour (She's One of Us). The film was shown as part of The Film Society of Lincoln Center's 2006 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

When an archeology student unearths some ancient Celtic stones in a mysterious forest, she comes face to face with the malevolent supernatural presence behind a spate of recent deaths at her nearby university. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Directed by Florent E. Siri, Nid De Guepes chronicles the unlikey cooperation between a band of thieves and an elite group of judicial escorts. As several characters prepare for their various missions on Bastille Day, an unapologetic Albanian mobster (Angelo Infanti) is being flown in to stand trial. Despite extensive security, Nexhep's (Infanti) armed flunkies stage a violent diversion, and the escorts end up in the same warehouse where some young criminals are attempting to steal truckloads of expensive computers. Though the group of thieves are initially suspicious of the new visitors, they must quickly combine their efforts to stay alive amongst the Albanian mafia's dogged and potentially deadly determination to find their captured leader. Nid De Guepes also features Damy Naceri, Benoit Magimel, Nadia Fares, Pascal Greggory, and Sami Bouajila.
~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

In this black comedy from France, a family gathers in a tavern, ostensibly to celebrate a birthday, but poking each other's sore spots turns out to be the main order of business. Henri (Jean-Pierre Bacri) runs a saloon that he inherited from his father called "The Sleepy Dad," and in the near-empty bar, he plays host to several members of the family as they mark the 35th birthday of his sister-in-law, Yolande (Catherine Frot). Henri's sister, Betty (Agnès Jaoui), is 30, single, and not very happy about it; his brother (and Yolande's husband), Phillipe (Vladimir Yordanoff), runs a growing software company; Mother (Claire Maurier) is the siblings' strong-willed matriarch; and Henri's dog is on hand, whom someone describes as "like a rug, but alive." It's not been a good day for most of them: Phillipe is convinced that his business will go out the window as a result of the ugly tie that he wore on television; Betty is depressed about the sad state of her current relationship; Henri has just learned that his wife is leaving him; and Mother is tossing caustic barbs at everyone left and right. Henri's bartender Denis (Jean-Pierre Darroussin) is the one neutral party on hand, and he provides the voice of reason in the midst of the bickering. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi