Coline Serreau Movies

Coline Serreau's 18 Ans Apres (18 Years Later) is a sequel to her 1985 film Three Men and a Cradle, which was re-made in America as Three Men and a Baby. Marie (Madeleine Besson) is now on the verge of turning 18. She decides to spend a summer vacation with her mother Sylvia. Joining them are Sylvia's husband (Ken Samuels) and his two young adult boys (Gregoire Lavollay-Porter and James Thierree). Eventually her three "dads" (André Dussollier, Michel Boujenah, and Roland Giraud) and a housekeeper show up. The differences between Americans and the French, the foibles of single parenthood, and the pitfalls of middle-aged love and sex provide the material for the film's comedy. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

In this satirical comedy drama from France, white-collar workaholic Paul (Vincent Lindon) and his high-strung wife Helene (Catherine Frot) are driving to a party one evening when a young woman leaps into the path of their car, crying for help. Paul refuses to let her into the car, and soon several men catch up with the woman and begin beating her savagely. Paul insists on staying out of the matter, but Helene feels some sense of responsibility for what happened, and begins spending most of her time at the hospital where the woman remains unconscious. In time, it's determined that the woman's name is Noémie (Rachida Brakni), she's 22 years old, and works as a prostitute. By this time, Helene has become obsessed with protecting Noémie, and when a strange man (Wojtek Pszoniak) attempts to sign her out of the hospital, claiming he's her uncle, Helene sneaks Noémie out posing as a nurse and takes her to her mother-in-law's country house to recover. Eventually, Noémie is well enough to tell her harrowing story -- she was brought to France from Algeria by her father, along with her sister, and fell into life as a streetwalker shortly after learning that her family had sold her hand in marriage her to a man back in Algeria. Director Coline Serreau shot Chaos using digital video equipment -- and was impressed enough with the experience that she announced she had no interest in shooting on 35 mm film ever again. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this comedy, Victor thought he really had it bad when he lost his wife and his job on the same day. However, when he tries to get some sympathy from his friends, he discovers just how bad things can get, because although everything seems to be just fine with their lives, they are incredibly angry. It seems that, just beneath the surface, everyone's cozy situation is about to fall apart, and they know it. Children are acting up, wives or husbands are just about to leave, and there is nothing much to smile about. Desperate for some comfort, he goes to a bar and has a few drinks. There, he meets the one person he's encountered so far who doesn't seem to be mad at the world: a seemingly simpleminded man with no home, no job, and no prospects of getting either. He allows his new human mascot to accompany him while he goes to visit his parents and is distressed to find that his mother is leaving his father for a much-younger man. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This easygoing French comedy -- originally and more wittily titled Romuald et Juliette -- is about conservative Parisian yogurt-company CEO named Romuald Blindet (Daniel Auteuil) who by circumstance finds himself drawing closer to his black cleaning woman Juliette Bonaventure (Firmine Richard). A romance soon develops between them. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this film that sends up the foibles of filmmaking, a standard crew of actors, stage-hands, director, writers, producers, and others are gathered for the filming of a 45-second automobile commercial. Each role embodies an archetype (the harried director who has a deadline to meet, the Scrooge production manager who has a budget to meet, and the writers who are above these mundane concerns), and these personalities drive the working actors over the edge until they decide to lock them up and do their own thing -- happiness can be just around the corner if you are in the driver's seat. Hopefully, the actors will be able to bow out before the police catch on to the situation. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

A threesome becomes a foursome in this sensitive drama. The tale begins with the relationship between a recently divorced man and woman (from different marriages) and the bisexual they get involved with. At first all three are happy in their new arrangement, but then the divorced fellow suddenly leaves and those remaining in the relationship become quite tense. Fortunately the fellow returns with another, more conventional fellow. Eventually the three persuade him to join them. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Sad, seedy, and without much of a future, the couple in this French drama go about their everyday life in an unattractive way. In the story, the wife has had as many abortions as she can bear and is now awaiting the birth of their first child. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi