The First Day of the Rest of Your Life

Yes we've already watched this kind of movie... Yes the different "life issues" and/or "family issues" that are exposed are quite classic...

But I really enjoyed watching this movie. The actors and actresses are very good, the musical atmosphere is great too, and the situations or dialogs made me laughed quite often.

It's a typical french movie, describing the different parts of a human life, from first life experiments to "old age" crises. The love that exists in the family looks real, pure, and is stronger than all the ordeals the different family members will encounter.

A real sweet time I had by watching this movie, you can go!

Realistic, funny, honest, gritty with fantastic music! What more could you ask for? I wish I could find the soundtrack for this as each song fits each moment perfectly (whichever emotion it is trying to portray).

I found myself caught between laughing & (almost) crying throughout the entire film. I am sure each person can relate to something in at least one of the characters... the angsty rebellious teenager, the hopeless romantic, the 'drop out', the couple who has fallen out of love and the doctor who is stuck in a job he doesn't love and a relationship he is not happy in.

The acting in this movie is simply fantastic.

It is structured around five key moments in a family's life and is such a fun, inspiring movie which plays with all of the different relationships between father & son, mother & daughter and of course, husband & wife.

It may sound intense or grim, but in fact I found this film to be (along with some intense moments of course), full of light and fluffy feel-good moments too.

You will see each character's different perspective on life and how they grow, which makes interesting watching. From the start to the end, I just loved it.

Don't be put off by the subtitles - you don't need to understand French to understand this wonderful movie!

If you've ever felt nostalgia, you will completely understand this film. This film displays nostalgia, of our good times, of the times we missed, the times we loved, and the times we cherished. It also deals, however, with the times we hated, the times we were embarrassed and the times that were bad. This film combines both nostalgia and regret into one well paced film, that contains great acting, magnificent direction and a swell soundtrack. A french film, alas, some may consider it to be overrated if they have never experienced nostalgia. The ones who have experienced nostalgia, however, will absolutely love this film. Whoever this director is, I'm going to look for some more films that he directed, because this was absolutely stunning. A spectacular experience that will make you feel with the characters, with pain and nostalgia. I will not give anything else away. 10/10.

Watched this at a London preview screening

This was a cleverly structured drama depicting a lengthy span of a family's life by rolling the events of one day in each phase of their lives. Its so well done that you really care about how their lives pan out. I felt it conveyed a message that life is too short to waste, so make the most of it. Bizarrely though, there's one message that seems rather twisted, you can only really enjoy yourself if you smoke something with a bit of kick in it! OK..I'll go try that...

How their lives pan out can be a tad predictable because this has been done before. But this movie rolls with so much panache, drama, nostalgia, a superb soundtrack, and lots of humour. In fact I laughed out loud a few times. The performances are uniformly excellent, especially the actor playing the father. He doesn't say much but you can read so much in his subtle expressions.

I think this is a film that has got such a universal appeal which most people can relate to in some way. Its highly entertaining and very well paced.

Sweet, human, funny and touching, this portrait of 5 key moments in a families life may not dive as deep as some films into the complexity of 'family', but makes up for it by reminding us that families – for all their flaws and pettiness and hurts – are also wonderful and important and, if we're lucky, full of love.

Remi Bezancon manages to make this argument without falling into too much sappiness. The acting is generally excellent, and the film has a knack for catching all those small details in our lives that eventually add up to larger, more important ones.

Not a masterpiece, but a lovely and very heartfelt and enjoyable film.