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Olivier Delbosc Movies

2012  
R  
Aging artist Auguste Renoir (Michel Bouquet) finds himself reinvigorated by the presence of a beautiful young model, but becomes enraged when his wounded son Jean (Vincent Rottiers) returns home from World War I, and falls in love with the red-haired muse. The Côte d'Azur: 1915. As the pain of arthritis makes painting increasingly difficult, celebrated artist Auguste Renoir becomes consumed with grief over the loss of his wife, and troubled by the news that his son Jean has been injured on the battlefield. Upon meeting Andrée (Christa Theret), however, the tired old artist gets a gainful second wind. Meanwhile, Jean returns home to recover, and finds himself under Andrée's spell as well. As tensions between father and son start to swell, Jean begins to blossom into an artist in his own right. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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2011  
 
In this modern day fantasy from director Agnes Merlet, James Furlong was born into family where the men all have strange, destructive powers; his grandfather loses his sight when he thinks about making love, and his father can stop mechanical objects from working when he feels fear. As a youngster, James discovers his curse is especially awful -- when he suffers physical or emotional discomfort, he sends out waves that can kill any living thing is his path. After causing the death of several relatives and schoolmates and severely injuring his best friend Liam, James runs away from home, making a home in the woods where he can't hurt people any more. Years later, teenage James (Harry Treadaway) encounters Mae O'Mara (Rachel Hurd-Wood), a young woman struggling with cancer who needs to get away from her caring but overbearing mother (Susan Lynch). James and Mae fall in love, and they discover this positive emotion causes James to send out healing energies, but their blissful time may be short lived, as Liam (Thomas Brodie Sangster), still suffering from the impact of James's powers, has tracked him down and is determined to get even. Hideaways received its world premiere at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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2011  
R  
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Director Fernando Meirelles (Blindness, The Constant Gardener) teams with screenwriters Peter Morgan and Peter Emmanuel Goldman to expand the scope of Arthur Schnitzler's 1897 play La Ronde, which explored the ways that social boundaries can be shattered by human sexuality. Set in seven cities across the globe, 360 finds a disparate group of characters unknowingly bonded by the sexual choices they make. Consumed by loneliness, a British businessman (Jude Law) ponders a rendezvous with a prostitute. When his colleague catches wind of the plan, blackmail enters the picture. Meanwhile, the businessman's wife (Rachel Weisz) prepares to call it quits with her younger lover; a Brazilian student breaks up with her boyfriend in London and heads back to Rio; a recovering alcoholic (Anthony Hopkins) travels to Phoenix in search of his missing daughter; a freshly paroled sex offender (Ben Foster) struggles to stay composed when propositioned in a Denver airport; and a prominent widower's religious devotion is put to a difficult test. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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2010  
NR  
A young man discovers how hard it can be to live down the reputation your family sets for you in this powerful drama. It's 1972, and John McGill (Gregg Forrest) has just completed grade school in Glasgow. John received excellent marks and has high hopes for middle school. However, his older brother Benny (Joe Szula) is well remembered at the school as a troublemaker and the leader of a youth gang, so John finds his teachers have low expectations of him, and offer him few opportunities to prove them wrong. When John is rejected by one of his new friends, Julian (Martin Bell), because his mother believes John is beneath their station, he finds some much needed respect in the company of Fergie (John Joe Hay), a gang leader who knows of Benny's fearsome reputation. Within two years, John (now played by Conor McCarron) has transformed himself into a "NED" -- "non-educated delinquent" in the school system's lingo -- and has exceeded his teachers' worst expectations of him. John has become enough of a thug to even put fear in the heart of his father, an unstable alcoholic with a propensity for violence. NEDS was written and directed by actor turned filmmaker Peter Mullan, who also plays John's father. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Conor McCarronPeter Mullan, (more)
 
2010  
PG13  
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His wife convicted of a murder she swears she did not commit, a college professor plots to break her out of prison in this thriller starring Russell Crowe and Liam Neeson. John Brennan (Crowe) and his wife, Lara (Elizabeth Banks), were happily married and raising a family when their lives fell apart in the blink of an eye. Lara has been charged with murder, and despite every effort to prove her innocence, the judge sentences her to an extended prison sentence. Meanwhile, on the outside, John files multiple appeals while struggling to raise their children and maintain his career. Lara's future starts to look especially grim, however, after the final appeal is rejected, and she admits that she'd rather commit suicide than spend the rest of her life behind bars. Determined to save his wife after the justice system fails her, John seeks the advice of ex-convict Damon Pennington (Liam Neeson), who staged his own daring prison escape, in order to draw up an airtight plan. Later, John prepares to put his life on the line for the woman he loves, and sets the plan into motion with the knowledge that one false move could be their last. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Russell CroweElizabeth Banks, (more)
 
2009  
NR  
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Death takes one man on a journey that is by turns beautiful and terrifying in this feature from writer and director Gaspar Noé, who describes it as "a psychedelic melodrama." Oscar (Nathaniel Brown) is a small-time drug dealer who sells his wares at a club in Tokyo called "The Void." In the midst of a deal that goes sour, Oscar is shot dead, and finds himself crossing from one plane of existence to the next. When he was younger, Oscar made a pledge to his younger sister, Linda (Paz de la Huerta), to always look after her, and as his soul leaves his body, the spirit is led on a journey through Tokyo, past traditional consciousness, and into the moment of human creation as he struggles to be reunited with Linda, who now works as an exotic dancer. Soudain le Vide (aka Enter the Void) received its world premiere at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Nathaniel BrownPaz de la Huerta, (more)
 
2009  
 
This zany, French-language fish-out-of-water comedy concerns a married couple, Hugo (Dany Boon) and Ariane (Sophie Marceau), who attempt to escape from the doldrums of nuptial banality by exchanging professional lives. He takes up his wife's career as a door-to-door jewelry salesman, and she assumes control of a building rental company - leading to a predictably endless series of outrageous complications. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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Starring:
Sophie MarceauDany Boon, (more)
 
2008  
R  
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A small war between science and religion is waged over the fate of a mentally ill teen in this thriller from writer and director Agnes Merlet. Jane Morton (Carice van Houten) is a psychotherapist who has been summoned to a small island community off the coast of Ireland to investigate a case of a profoundly disturbed young woman. Dorothy Mills (Jenn Murray) is a teenager who strangled a young girl outside a church for no apparent reason; she's being kept in the village hospital, where she displays a broad variety of bizarre and violent behavior. Jane soon diagnoses Dorothy as suffering from multiple personality disorder and attempts to sort out the various anti-social identities that battle for control of her mind. But Pastor Ross (Gary Lewis), head of the local church, has a different view of Dorothy's problem -- he's convinced Dorothy has been possessed by the devil, and he believes an exorcism is the cure, not therapy. A number of Ross's parishioners share his views and don't want Jane imposing her big-city ways on them, even as the doctor is getting to the roots of Dorothy's problems. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Carice van HoutenJenn Murray, (more)
 
2008  
 
When an Afghani taxi driver realizes that his latest fare left an infant child in the back seat of his cab, his quest to track down the mother sends his fate in a direction he never thought possible. The mother having long since disappeared into the crowded streets, prompting distressed driver Khaled to take the child first to the police, and later to a local orphanage. Indifference and unforeseen obstacles hinder Khaled's quest to reunite the child with his mother at every turn, in time leading him to surmise that he should take the founding home - at least temporarily. After all, Khaled has only fathered girls, and even his own dad thinks it a good idea to care for the boy. Though he isn't entirely opposed to the idea of raising a boy, Khaled ultimately makes the decision to post a reward in hopes that the mother will recognize her child and step forward to claim him. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Valery ShatzAmelie Glenn, (more)
 
2008  
 
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As helmed by Gilles Bourdos, this supernatural thriller - a Franco-German-Canadian co-production - continues John Malkovich's career-long tradition of playing offbeat, enigmatic figures with a menacing air. Romain Duris stars as Nathan Del Amico, an attorney doubly haunted by his past, as the survivor of a near-death experience as a child and a witness of his own baby's death. As a product of these crises, Nathan has buried himself in his work and now suffers from a bad case of familial estrangement from his separated wife Evangeline Lilly and little girl. Then the mysterious Dr. Kay (Malkovich) turns up, claiming that he has clairvoyant visions informing him when someone is about to die - a gift as a "messenger" that enables him to make each person's transition out of life a smooth and easy one. Suddenly, upon hearing Kay's claims, Nathan feels his death-laden memories double in intensity - and grows increasingly convinced that either he now stands on the verge of death, or that he has the same messenger abilities as Kay. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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Starring:
John MalkovichEvangeline Lilly, (more)
 
2007  
 
A young man attempts to fulfill the last wish of his dying grandfather in director Emil Kusturica's quirky romantic comedy Just outside of Belgrade, a man named Tsane (Uros Milovanovic) lives on a remote hilltop with his grandfather Deda (Aleksander Bercek) and Cvetka the family cow. Apart from Tsane and Deda, the only other inhabitant of the tiny village is a teacher named Bosa (Ljilana Blagojevic). One day, Deda announces to Tsane that he is dying, and that before he passes away he wants his grandson to travel to the nearest town and sell Cvetka at the market. With the money that he makes from the sale of the cow, Tsane is to purchase a religious icon and any other items he wishes. Before the young man returns home, however, his must also find a wife. Though the prospect of finding a bride before his grandfather dies will indeed prove a formidable task for Tsane, just when it seems that all hope he runs into the beautiful Jasna (Marija Petronijevic) - who is late for school once again. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Marija PetronijevicUros Milovanovic, (more)
 
2007  
PG13  
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In 1645, the French playwright and actor Jean-Baptiste Poquelin -- better known as Molière -- mysteriously disappeared for several weeks, and this lavish comedy drama imagines a scenario that could explain what may have happened to him. At this time, Molière (Romain Duris) is touring the French countryside with his traveling theater company, and he's yet to be recognized as one of the continent's great authors (or achieve significant financial success). Molière is put in jail after skipping out on some unpaid debts, but is freed after his fine is paid by two strangers. Molière discovers his benefactors are acting on behalf of Jourdain (Fabrice Luchini), a very wealthy man who has a beautiful wife, Elmire (Laura Morante) and two lovely daughters. However, Jourdain has fallen head over heels for Celimene (Ludivine Sagnier), a gorgeous widow, and he's written a short play in order to demonstrate his feelings for her. Jourdain needs someone to help him polish his script and serve as an acting coach, and he's recruited Molière for the job. Needing the money, Moliere accepts, but he poses as a man of the cloth, Monsieur Tartuffe, to keep his identity a secret. Molière soon realizes that Jourdain's talent exists only in the rich man's imagination, and that Jourdain already has a rival for Celimene's affections, the charming but duplicitous Dorante (Edouard Baer). Molière was written and directed by Laurent Tirard. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Romain DurisFabrice Luchini, (more)
 
2007  
 
Actress-cum-director Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi's sophomore feature, the comedy-drama Les Actrices (Le reve de la nuit d'avant), follows the trials and travails of Marcelline (Tedeschi), a tense and jittery stage thesp whose personal and professional life threaten to fall into pieces simultaneously. On a personal level, Marcelline hits the midpoint of her life, hears her biological clock ticking, and longs desperately for a child. At work, Marcelline's inability to find the core of her character, Natalia Petrovna, in a production of Turgenev's A Month in the Country only causes her emotional tension to double. In time, she regresses into such a basket case that she can barely respond to the stage director's query about whether she is right or left-handed. Marcelline's natty and overanxious mother (Marisa Borini, Tedeschi's mother in real life) weighs heavily on her as well, pressuring her constantly about the need to find an appropriate suitor before time runs out; instead, Marcelline finds herself drawn helplessly to Eric (Louis Garrel) a sexy young actor in the production - who, without her knowledge, nurtures reciprocal affections. This parallels the events that befall Petrovna in Turgenev's play, and indeed, at one point the spirit of Petrovna (Valeria Golino) appears to Marcelline for much-needed counsel. Meanwhile, as Marcelline weathers her own personal crises, one of her friends, Nathalie (Noemie Lvovsky) - the assistant to the play's director - struggles with her offstage lack of fulfillment as a wife and mother. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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Starring:
Valeria Bruni-TedeschiNoemie Lvovsky, (more)
 
2007  
NR  
With a loving, stable marriage of many years, a devoted son named Oscar (Lancelot Roch) and a quiet life in suburban France, life feels supremely happy for French couple Julien (Vincent Lindon) and Lisa (Diane Kruger). The household is shaken to its core, then, when an unthinkable series of events befalls the family: the police suddenly turn up and inexplicably arrest Lisa for a murder of which she appears to have no knowledge. She receives a sentence of twenty years in prison, but Julien remains convinced of her innocence - and unwilling to endure the time it will take to sort through French bureaucracy and obtain an appeal. Reeling in turmoil, Julien grows so distraught that he resorts to a desperate plan of action by deciding to spring Lisa from confinement. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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Starring:
Vincent LindonDiane Kruger, (more)
 
2007  
 
Writer/director Samuel Benchetrit takes the helm for this laid-back crime comedy that weaves together four stories which all eventually convene at a roadside diner. Franck (Edouard Baer) is a petty criminal who is currently pondering the prospect of holding up a remote diner. When observant waitress Suzie (Anna Mouglalis) eventually realizes that Franck has more than a meal on his mind, she reveals that she too had considered robbing the place until getting disheartening peak at the anemic cash register. In the second story, desperate criminals Leon (Bouli Lanners) and Paul (Serge Lariviere) kidnap the daughter of a wealthy businessman in hopes of earning a tidy ransom, but soon find themselves forced to act as surrogate parents when the young girl is revealed to be suicidal. Later, after two aging rock stars (Alain Bashung and Arno) discuss their careers over a meal at the diner, four former gangsters smuggle an old friend out of the hospital for a nostalgic trip to their former hideout, only to discover that the familiar log cabin has long since been razed and replaced with a modest diner that provides no means for lying low. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Anna MouglalisSergi López, (more)
 
2007  
NR  
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A destitute but determined young woman living in turn-of-the-century England ascends the social ranks after authoring a series of successful romantic novels in French writer/director François Ozon's first English-language feature. Romola Garai takes on the title role in a French and Belgian co-production co-starring Sam Neill, Charlotte Rampling, and Michael Fassbender and financed by Fidélité Films, Canal+, Celluliod Dreams, France 2, and Pan-Européenne. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Romola GaraiSam Neill, (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, Rovi

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Starring:
Isabelle CarréJosé Garcia, (more)
 
2006  
 
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

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Starring:
Fabrice LuchiniJohnny Hallyday, (more)
 
2006  
 
Gallic writer-director Eric Barbier borrows Hitchcock's old premise of an innocent unjustly accused of lurid and brutal actions - with all evidence pointing inconveniently to him - for the Parisian-set thriller Le Serpent. Yvan Attal stars as Mandel, a slightly introverted photographer careening toward an ugly divorce from his affluent German wife. Back into his life waltzes Plender (Clovis Cornillac), a psychopath obsessed with obtaining vengeance on Mandel for a long-ago trauma that he believes the photographer caused during childhood. The revenge takes the form of a model who falsely accuses Mandel of rape and then turns up dead in the photographer's car - making him the number one suspect. At the same time, Plender begins to inveigle himself into the confidences of Mandel's unsuspecting family. Barbier also authored the screenplay, adapting a novel by Ted Lewis (Get Carter). ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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Starring:
Clovis CornillacYvan Attal, (more)
 
2006  
PG13  
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A businessman tries to belatedly learn the fine art of friendship in this comedy from French filmmaker Patrice Leconte. François (Daniel Auteuil) is an antique dealer who runs an upscale shop with his business partner, Catherine (Julie Gayet). François is a gently ruthless trader who will do nearly anything to make a deal, and when Catherine throws him a birthday party, someone points out that all the guests are business associates, not personal friends. While François protests that he does indeed have friends, Catherine calls him on it and makes him a deal -- if he can produce his best friend within ten days, he'll be allowed to keep a valuable vase he recently found for the shop, but if not, the vase will belong to her. François agrees to the challenge, but while going through his address book, he begins to realize he really doesn't have any especially close friends. Over the course of several days, François keeps running into Bruno (Dany Boon), a gregarious and friendly taxi driver, and while Bruno's personality rubs François the wrong way, he notices that the cabbie has a way of making (most) people like him. Eager to win his bet with Catherine, François recruits Bruno to give him a crash course in making friends and influencing people, hoping to find a buddy before his deadline. Mon Meilleur Ami (aka My Best Friend) received its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Daniel AuteuilDany Boon, (more)
 
2005  
 
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Diagnosed with terminal cancer and given only a short while to live, a successful fashion photographer embarks on one final journey in the second of three films in a trilogy about death and mourning from French director François Ozon (the first entry in the the trilogy was Under the Sand) . After passing out during a particularly grueling photo shoot, high profile shutterbug Romain (Melvil Poupaud) is shocked to discover that his body has been ravaged by a fully metastasized cancer that will soon kill him. Without revealing the cause for his erratic behavior, the shell shocked Romain commences to alienate his entire family and ditch his handsome young boyfriend before connecting with affable waitress Jany (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi) at a roadside café while en route to his grandmother's house. Upon arriving at the home of the one family member he knows will be joining him shortly in death, Romain's naked vulnerability is met with a gentle ear and sound advice. Once again meeting with the kindly Jany on his way to his ultimate fate, Romain and the waitress strike up an unusual bargain. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Melvil PoupaudJeanne Moreau, (more)