I can kind of understand why some would not like this movie. You could certainly accuse it of being pretentious, except I don't know exactly what it is "pretending" to be. You could also accuse the lead actress, Isild Lebesco, of chewing up the scenery at times, but this isn't so much overwrought performance on the part of the actress, as it is the strange character she plays, who seems to do one aimless, impulsive--and often destructive--thing after another, often with completely opaque motives.
LeBesco plays a nurse and former female shooting champion. She's cold and abrasive to her patients and co-workers, bitterly estranged from her father, a burden on her protective sister, and very sexually aggressive but "not tender" (as the French title of this translates). After breaking up with a boyfriend, she goes in the woods with her rifle to commit suicide, but instead ends up impulsively shooting a troubled young boy, who is as hostile and disagreeable as she is. When he winds up under her care at the hospital, they end up bonding and both become a little bit more "tender".
Isild Lebesco is one of the most interesting young French actresses. She is not a classical beauty--she's rather ordinary looking in the face, and even unattractive from some angles. Her body though is positively stunning (which is perhaps why she's had nude scenes in about every movie she's been in since appearing in "Gilrls Can't Swim" at 17). She also has a strange charisma that always makes her watch-able, even though I don't think she's ever been in a movie that really fully takes advantage of her talents. This movie has her blasting away with a hunting rifle, riding a bike straight down a hill and into a lake (without the benefit of a Hollywood stunt double), and having wild sex with two guys at a time. But her performance becomes much more subtle and nuanced by the end. She really carries this whole film, and while it's not exactly good, she certainly makes it interesting at least.
