Folies d'Avril

I saw this film years and years ago, but was listening to a "best of"

CD the other day and heard Dionne Warwick singing the title tune

of "The April Fools" - I remembered how much I loved this film. The

truth to the performances of Jack Lemmon and Catherine

Deneuvre, along with great performances from Peter Lawford and

Sally Kellerman, makes this film a classic of the late sixties in the

vein of Breakfast At Tiffanys. There is something pure, haunting

and deeply bittersweet about this movie - well worth a viewing.

You have to watch this one a few times to get its rhythm. If you don't, you'll miss some gems. Jack Lemmon plays a man who finds himself disconnected from the world. No one wants to listen to him – his wife, son, boss, lawyer friend, even the family dog.

The movie lacks punch. And one reason is the real absence of romantic chemistry between Lemmon and Deneuve. Jack Lemmon, as an actor, needs a lively romantic love interest to better match his manic style. Deneuve comes off as beautiful, wooden and lethargic. But Lemmon's acting power is undeniable. So again we're treated to the brilliant, sad clown.

Harvey Korman and Jack Weston serve up a hilarious train ride and domestic scene. Charles Boyer's energy and wonderful voice entertain. Sally Kellerman does well epitomizing the Lemmon character's plight.

It's a late Sixties period piece and manages to capture some of that.

Whatever praise - and criticism - has been directed at this film in other comments here is pretty much right on. But the elements considered by some as flaws need not necessarily be bothersome; they aren't to me. That all of the supporting characters are rather broadly drawn caricatures works, I think, because it leaves Lemmon and Deneuve, at the heart of the story, the only seemingly real people in it, one might say. Isn't that the way love is sometimes? Maybe everyone around you thinks you're nuts (hence the title?), but to the smitten couple, the exact opposite seems the case.

What we really have here is the late-60s equivalent of screwball romantic comedy. As such, it's full of colorful characters and unlikely situations, with a good dose of social satire thrown in - with marriage, in particular, under the microscope. We have high-powered executive Lawford and Deneuve, his neglected trophy wife; put-upon suburbanite Lemmon and Kellerman, his self-absorbed, psychobabble-spouting spouse; Weston trying to be the assertive "man of the house" with his bickering "Mimsy;" Loy and Boyer as the long-married and still very much in love eccentrics. But THE APRIL FOOLS isn't about marriage, of course; it's about love.

If you can find this picture, which is pretty hard to do as of this writing, it will reward with wonderful moments, delivered by a varied cast which pretty much represents the spectrum of players: the just-emerging Kellerman, Dillon and Mars; Lemmon, Lawford and Weston in their prime and old pros Boyer and Loy. Deneuve finds herself in an unfamiliar milieu here, but with her character that works in her favor. It's unexpected - and thoroughly amusing - when she suddenly lashes out at Mars: "Leesen, if you toush me agayne, I'll geev you a sock-in-the-eye!"

My favorite moment: Lemmon's awkward attempt to be suave and "come on" to a sexy blond at Lawford's swanky party. The payoff is priceless.

I have always loved this movie, and, in many ways, relate to the Howard Brubaker character. Is it a great movie? Absolutely not. But it is romantic, humorous, and touching in many ways. This was my first glimpse of Catherine Deneuve outside of a pilfered Playboy, and she was nearly enough to make me forget Diana Rigg. I have always thought that Jack Lemmon was great, and being an old movie buff, I was very happy to see Myrna Loy and Charles Boyer.

In many ways this film can be considered silly. Boyer's chasing of Lemmon, the total detachment of Sally Kellerman's character, the locker room style boasting of Brubaker's friends, and finally the hasty courtship and decision to flee made by Lemmon and Deneuve. But, somehow it works. The touching love of Boyer and Loy is the perfect counterpoint to the blossoming relationship of Lemmon and Deneuve. And the similar ways in which Catherine and Howard are objectified by their respective spouses (Brubaker's wife considers him a source of funding for her projects while Guenther thinks of his wife as his greatest acquisition) insures fertile ground for anything resembling true warmth and emotion.

Don't think of this as some throwaway romantic comedy. Think of this, instead, as an Everyman's Romantic Fantasy. In reality we think not only of sex at the drop of a hat (not present in this movie), but also of meeting a beautiful woman who immediately recognizes the real man within and is willing to drop all for the love of that man.

I love this movie.

I remember Rex Reed saying that this was a horrible mess and that Catherine Deneuve should never make anything without English subtitles. Well, Deneuve has gone on to become one of the world's respected actresses in any language, and Reed's greatest claim to fame was appearing in Myra Breckinridge.

Don't be afraid to give this movie a chance.

Critics often get it wrong and this movie is proof of that. If you watch this movie in the cold and analytical way that critics often do you will see its countless flaws. But if you do this you will also miss its warmth,charm the masterly performances of its cast and a super sixties Bacharach theme song. I urge people to see it and make up their own mind. My guess is you won't fail to be touched.