Laurent Petin Movies

Patrice Leconte adapts Jean Teulé's darkly comic 2007 novel into a animated musical concerning a young child with a sunny disposition born into a family that thrives on the misery of others. Since 1854, the Tuvache family has owned a small shop catering to the suicidal impulses of its depressed clientele. A walk down the shadowy isles of this morbid boutique reveals a dazzling variety of instruments with which weary shoppers can end their suffering. When pessimistic proprietor Mishima and his depressive wife give birth to a baby boy named Alan, they're overjoyed at the thought that he will be just as miserable as his somber siblings. But Alan isn't like the others; bright-eyed and energetic, he's a ghastly ray of sunshine in their cherished world of grey skies. Not even the carcinogenic cigarettes enthusiastically bestowed to Alan by his concerned father are enough to snap the cheerful child out of his optimistic slump. Realizing that the very future of their enduring family business may be threatened by the beaming boy, the Tuvache's soon resort to desperate measures in their efforts to keep the misery alive. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A seasoned safecracker is torn between pulling one final, highly lucrative job and abandoning his criminal career in favor of raising his young son. Repeatedly tempted by his grandfather to continue in the felonious family business, 35 year old career criminal Sam instead decides to do everything in his power to finally become a Mensch (a decent man). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director Atom Egoyan explores the concept of cyberspace as a place for redemption in this drama about an adolescent boy named Simon (Devon Bostick) who reinvents his life on the Internet. Before long, Simon's deeply personal journey provokes strong reactions from around the globe. Rachel Blanchard and Scott Speedman co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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, Rovi

The devastated life of a man haunted by the unsolved murder of his beloved wife is strangely complicated by the mysterious neighbor who loves him from afar in a dark noir thriller directed by Manuel Pradal and starring Norman Reedus, Emmanuelle Béart and Harvey Keitel. Vincent (Reedus)' wife has suffered a most brutal fate, and these days the once happy New Yorker is but a frozen shell of his former self. Vincent is not a man unloved, however, because although he may currently be unaware of her feelings for him, his neighbor Alice (Béart) knows in her heart that she and Vincent were meant to be together. All that needs to happen to make Vincent recognize her love is for the grieving widower to finally be liberated from his tragic past; and Alice is willing to go to any lengths necessary in order to make this happen. If Vincent was finally to find the man responsible for his wife's death, he could finally be free to open his heart to Alice. When Alice hails a cab driven by lonely New York soul Roger (Keitel), the gears of the scheming woman's elaborate plan are slowly set into motion despite the ignorance of both the naïve cabbie, and the somber object of her delusional affections. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A group of students are eager to get an education while on a class trip in this comedy from Italy. Salvatore (Vincenzo Salemme) and Archimede (Massimo Boldi) are two teachers at a private high school for boys who have arranged for their students to travel to Spain for a learning holiday. While Salvatore and Archimede have academics in mind, their charges are more interested in meeting girls and having fun, and when they discover Maggie (Daryl Hannah), an American teacher, is leading a group of female students from a school in California through the same part of Spain, the goal becomes ditching their teachers and having a party with the girls. Meanwhile, Salvatore and Archimede keep getting into hot water of their own, especially after they become romantic rivals, each hoping to win the hand of lovely Maggie. Ole! was released in Italy in time for the Christmas season, an annual tradition for Massimo Boldi comedies (though this project found him paired with Vincenzo Salemme rather than his usual sidekick, Christian De Sica). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The last frantic days before the Germans seized France in 1940 provide an unlikely backdrop for this dark comedy. Viviane (Isabelle Adjani) is a glamorous and well-known film actress who attracts the attentions of many men -- often many she has no interest in knowing. One night, at a reception following the premiere of her latest picture, Viviane finds herself pursued by Beaufort (Gérard Depardieu), a government official whose girth exceeds his charm. To throw him off her trail, Viviane allows a cranky older man, André Arpel (Nicolas Vaude), to escort her home. During the evening, Viviane and André quarrel, and after slapping him, she discovers that he has simply dropped dead. An understandably terrified Viviane calls a former boyfriend, Frédéric Roger (Grégori Derangère), and asks him to help her get rid of the body. In hopes of reviving their romance, he agrees, but after an auto accident, Frédéric is caught with the body, and is taken to jail to await his trial. When word gets out that German troops are due to arrive in Paris at any minute, Frédéric and his fellow prisoners are instructed they're to be moved out of town; Frédéric is handcuffed to petty thief Raoul (Yvan Attal), and en route the two are able to make their escape. When Frédéric learns that Viviane has fled to Bordeaux, along with much of the French upper crust, he makes his way there, where he finds he has a new rival for her affections -- Beaufort, who no longer seems such a poor prospect. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A boy from a broken home finds a friend in an insular, spiritual shopkeeper in this period drama from writer/director François Dupeyron. Set in 1960s Paris, Monsieur Ibrahim et les Fleurs du Coran revolves around Momo (Pierre Boulanger), a young man who lives alone with his father in the bustling Rue Bleu district. Still smarting over the separation from his wife and other son, Momo's dad neglects his son in ways both minor and major, to the point where the teen spends most of his time out of school alone and isolated. He finds an unlikely ally in Monsieur Ibrahim (Omar Sharif), a Muslim shopkeeper who spends most of his days behind the counter of his store reading the Koran. As time passes, Momo and Ibrahim begin to bring each other out of his respective shell, sharing a series of everyday adventures, culminating in Momo's indoctrination into Ibrahim's faith. Monsieur Ibrahim et les Fleurs du Coran played the Toronto and Venice film festivals; at the latter, Sharif was given a lifetime achievement award for this and the rest of his career's work. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

French filmmaker Manuel Poirier directs the comedy drama Femmes... ou les Enfants d'Abord... (Women or Children First). Middle-aged Tom (Sergi Lopez) lives in Brittany with his wife, Sylvie (Marilyne Canto), and their children. He leads a very tedious existence that may be headed toward a mid-life crisis or divorce. One day, his ex-girlfriend Virginie (Sylvie Testud) arrives with the news that he had fathered a child with her eight years ago. Needing a break to get herself together financially, she unloads the little girl on Tom. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Adolphe, French director Benoît Jacquot's adaptation of Benjamin Constant's novel of the same name, tells the story of a young man's passion for 30-year-old Ellenore (Isabelle Adjani). After much resistance, Ellenore falls for Adolphe (Stanislas Mehrar), only to find out that his love for her has waned significantly. Though Adolphe did not intentionally hurt Ellenore, she is very much saddened by his lack of feeling toward her. This unhappy love story also features French actors Jean Yanne and Romain Duris. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

A man who thinks he's found an easy ride through the Army during World War I has his world turned upside down when facial injuries render him unrecognizable in this wartime drama. In the summer of 1914, Adrien Fournier (Eric Caravaca) is an engineer conscripted into the French Army, where he is made a lieutenant and assigned to join a group of soldiers helping to design and build a bridge to move troops near the front lines. While scouting a suitable location for the bridge, Fournier and his fellows are caught in the middle of an attack, and a shell explodes in his face. Fournier survives the attack, but while his limbs and his body suffer only minimal damage, his face is torn to shreds -- only landing in the mud prevents him from bleeding to death (the dried muck seals off a number of key blood vessels severed by the blast). It is some time before Fournier can be moved to an Army hospital, and he cannot talk through his ruined mouth, communicating with notes scratched onto a small chalkboard. Fournier finds himself in a special hospital wing for officers who've suffered severe injuries (a relatively comfortable area a good bit different from the crowded and spartan wards for common foot soldiers), and as a dedicated surgeon (Andre Dussollier) struggles to rebuild Fournier's face with the primitive means available to him, the once-handsome engineer ponders an uncertain future. Commiserating with Fournier are Alain (Jean-Michel Portal), his best friend from college; Pierre (Gregori Derangere) and Henri (Denis Podalydes), a pair of fellow officers also suffering facial injuries; and Anais (Sabine Azema), a patient and warm-hearted nurse who brings hope to the hospital's most severely injured men. La Chambre Des Officiers was screened in competition at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The cast and crew from the 1998 Gallic megahit Taxi return for this high-octane sequel about a crime-bustin' cabby and a defrocked cop. The film opens with Daniel (Samy Naceri) rushing a pregnant woman to the hospital in his souped cab through the streets of Marseilles. Meanwhile, taciturn cop Emilien (Frederic Diefenthal) finally passes his driving test after flunking 27 times in a row. The action really gets rolling when blonde bombshell police woman Petra (Emma Sjoberg) gets kidnapped on the toilet by ninjas and added to their collection of hostages, including the Japanese minister of defense. The yakuza are out for trouble, and nothing stands between bedlam and civil order but two guys and one wicked-cool cab. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi