The Secret Life of Happy People
Christal Films Distribution/Max Films International
Exploring the familiar territory of bourgeois ennui and duplicity, first-time feature screenwriter-director Stephane Lapointe brings considerable confidence and fluidity to his storytelling, if no earth-shattering insights. The Quebec-set drama "The Secret Life of Happy People" screened in competition at AFI Fest.
At the center of the story is the soft and malleable Thomas (Marc Paquet), a 25-year-old architecture student still living with his parents and too easygoing to acknowledge how miserable he is. He's the misfit in the high-achieving, seemingly perfect Dufresne family, a klutz sporting a little boy's haircut who has no luck with the opposite sex despite the encouragement of his good-looking friend (Maxime Denommee). When she is not studying for her appearance on a trivia quiz show, Thomas' passive-aggressive mother (Marie Gignac) wonders if a shrink is in order for her boy. His businessman father (the excellent Gilbert Sicotte) ponders the possibility that steroids would deliver the needed jolt, but he spares Thomas such suggestions, instead delivering tepid pep talks.
Everything changes for Thomas, sort of, after he meets and starts seeing Audrey (Catherine de Lean, in a striking big-screen debut). Vibrant and self-possessed, the diner waitress is an unlikely match for the awkward Thomas -- and indeed, their romance is not what it seems. He is increasingly relegated to the role of babysitter for her young daughter, but as with his controlling parents, Thomas can't take a stand with Audrey.While his mother scores success on "Without a Doubt" and his father plunges into a deluded second youth, Thomas has only the vaguest inkling of the betrayal that awaits him.
Lapointe, a director with TV experience, draws subtle performances from his cast and convincingly captures the gilded prison of upper-middle-class self-preservation, depicting a world where trivia and home renovation projects sub for intimacy and self-knowledge. "Secret Life" doesn't plumb any great depths, but it is an elegantly told tale that earns its hopeful ending.
Exploring the familiar territory of bourgeois ennui and duplicity, first-time feature screenwriter-director Stephane Lapointe brings considerable confidence and fluidity to his storytelling, if no earth-shattering insights. The Quebec-set drama "The Secret Life of Happy People" screened in competition at AFI Fest.
At the center of the story is the soft and malleable Thomas (Marc Paquet), a 25-year-old architecture student still living with his parents and too easygoing to acknowledge how miserable he is. He's the misfit in the high-achieving, seemingly perfect Dufresne family, a klutz sporting a little boy's haircut who has no luck with the opposite sex despite the encouragement of his good-looking friend (Maxime Denommee). When she is not studying for her appearance on a trivia quiz show, Thomas' passive-aggressive mother (Marie Gignac) wonders if a shrink is in order for her boy. His businessman father (the excellent Gilbert Sicotte) ponders the possibility that steroids would deliver the needed jolt, but he spares Thomas such suggestions, instead delivering tepid pep talks.
Everything changes for Thomas, sort of, after he meets and starts seeing Audrey (Catherine de Lean, in a striking big-screen debut). Vibrant and self-possessed, the diner waitress is an unlikely match for the awkward Thomas -- and indeed, their romance is not what it seems. He is increasingly relegated to the role of babysitter for her young daughter, but as with his controlling parents, Thomas can't take a stand with Audrey.While his mother scores success on "Without a Doubt" and his father plunges into a deluded second youth, Thomas has only the vaguest inkling of the betrayal that awaits him.
Lapointe, a director with TV experience, draws subtle performances from his cast and convincingly captures the gilded prison of upper-middle-class self-preservation, depicting a world where trivia and home renovation projects sub for intimacy and self-knowledge. "Secret Life" doesn't plumb any great depths, but it is an elegantly told tale that earns its hopeful ending.
- 11/14/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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