The Student and Mister Henri

A young woman coming of age. Finding one's direction in life. A man who has given up on life. A couple trying to preserve theirs. This is a film about relationships, and while considerably predictable is still well-done. From directing to camera work, sound and acting, everything is neatly packaged. It is a fairly basic story but enjoyable to watch. If one does not go in expecting Oscar-winning material and instead simply wishes for a good story, this will work. It is not perfect, but few films are. It achieves what it set out to achieve.

Noemie Schmidt gets a room in a great apartment in Paris with an old man, Claude Brasseur, Henry, who will allow her to stay without the deposit, if she breaks up his son's marriage. Paul the son is vulnerable. They don't have children. Then Noemie Schmidt plays the piano. Brasseur's wife played the piano before she died. Henry helps Noemie get an audition to the London School of Music.

This was a play before it became a film. I saw some similarities with Carnage. But it still moves quickly and is a fun film to enjoy.

The plot can be a bit tropey, but it is enjoyable nonetheless. It has a few cringe-worthy moments, but they are quickly forgotten as the story progresses, because overall it is a pleasant watch...a story about found families and young people finding their dreams and learning to believe in themselves. I found it uplifting and entertaining enough, not a masterpiece but worth the watch.

I ask myself time and again... how do the French do this? They have a superb knack for taking a very simple story and turning it, without sentiment, into a beautiful, moving, intelligent and uplifting experience.

This is another such gem. Beautifully acted by all players, a simple story of a girl who always 'fails' is turned into a story about how we all are... just humans who are trying to find our way. And sometimes it takes a stranger to see who we really are. Definitely one for parents who might need to put on their thinking caps.

Highly recommended. Delightful.

Another french feel-good comedy, once more with two outsiders helping each other getting on with life. Though a bit formulaic, this is a good one - entertaining, funny, well paced and with some feeling AND even an "edgy" or slightly unexpected ending (at least for a feel-good comedy, that is). First landlord and lodger, the grumpy old widower Henri, and the nice but shrewd and stubborn student, Constance, soon become a bit more invested than each of them planned to.

The high points are the three main actors (Henri - he gets most laughs; Constance; and Henri's 40ish son, Paul, who initiated the whole lodging scheme so his father is not all alone). Other characters (among them Paul's wife) get rather shortchanged. The movie is based on a stage play, so the dialogue is snappy and very funny; the downside is that the whole thing is not very cinematic - I guess it wouldn't lose much on a home screen. But I recommend seeing this with a weekend crowd in the theater, always a nice experience with those comedies!