The title may puzzle you: "Lola" is a female name ,and "pater " means "father" in latin.Insofar as Lola used to be a man, it makes sense .
After his mother's death ,a young man goes in search of his father who left home a long long time ago .Much to his surprise, his father is a transsexual :he's become a woman called Lola ;besides she's a lesbian who's got a partner.;
Needless to say,the screenplay has a strong potential ,but it only skims over the human problems ,,it remains superficial,and the ending ,which is borrowed from countless melodramas ,is the easy way out indeed.
The only reason why you should watch this movie is Fanny Ardant's Cesar-caliber performance ;she blows every other actor off the stage : we do believe she was once the handsome man who appears in the short flashbacks or on the photographs ;she opts for a rather low-pitched voice which is perfect.She' one of the rare French actresses who,like Natalie Baye ,can age gracefully .Not afraid of playing daring parts ,she had already played a lesbian (who kissed Catherine Deneuve) in François Ozon's "8 Femmes ".Unfortunately,her young co-star gives a johnny-one-note performance and never rises to to the occasion .Nobody in the cast can hold a candle to Miss Ardant anyway.
In spite of this first-class performance,it remains a missed opportunity.
