Little White Lies

[alythonian]

Saw this in Edinburgh tonight about 60% full. Lots of new faces - quite a few of whom left after 10 minutes!

Film started and then they played Cineworld advert over the top of it and then they forgot to put the sound back on so I had to wander out to tell them!

I enjoyed the start more than the end. It was too long and I didn't like any of the charachters, not even the oyster man, so I had trouble empathising with them.

The scenery was lovely and the acting was good - kept seeing Max as Dustin Hoffman!?!

I just can't believe how long it was.

5 or 6 left about 8.15 - to get a bus? - including a lady I've not seen in ages who always goes on her own and sits at the front, she used to be at everything when the free screenings started but I hadn't seen her in ages - nice to see you agian if you are reading this?

It was very long.

OH said his favourite charachter was the "weasel"!!!

[elski]

well the film started set in a club, there were no subtitles but thought maybe they weren't bothering as the credits were still running.... then the film started properly, still no subtitles....

Cineworld were brill, paused the film came in and said it looked like they'd been sent a print without subtitles (just like what happened with A Prophet). He said if anyone wished to brave it they could carry on watching the film otherwise were were all welcome to watch anything else for free. No-one said they wanted to carry on. We all filed out got handed schedules to choose our film and allowed to cut the queue (to the bemusement of people waiting in the queue to be served at the box office) and within 5 mins I was ready and waiting for Source Code ads and trailers to start. And if there weren't any film on people wanted to see tonight he was handing out vouchers to those people.

I do hope there are more Little White Lies screenings in Sheffield as I do want to see it.

[mattymc13]

The Enfield screening was interupted by footage of some extreme sports from the Red Bull channel playing directly over the top of it. You could still see Little White Lies in the background, but it was rather irritating. It was at a crucial stage of the film really too. In general I thought the film was funny, sweet and moving. But it's ultimately too long, and there's a lot of padded scenes that could have found their way into the editing room bin. It also has many stories within the one story. I did manage to keep up with them all, just. Most of them started out funny, but then made a nice transition into seriousness. To name a few: the man crush, the "I don't know" text reply, and the casual sex followed by a spliff and watching a movie on her own. Each of those have their respective tragedies within. And of course the main storyline is one of friendship, love and death. It's pretty well executed.

I don't really know where I stand with Little White Lies. I definitely enjoyed it. I laughed way more than I did at yesterday's Rio. But it's a real struggle to get through it. You'll feel like you've done twelve rounds with Mike Tyson.

[mattymc13]

The scenery was lovely and the acting was good - kept seeing Max as Dustin Hoffman!?!

My thoughts exactly! He's the French Hoffman.

[marjoreemarjora]

Yes agree with Alythonian kept thinking I was looking at Dustin Hoffman. Film way too long for me, enjoyable but could have had at least 30 minutes taken out of it.

Lovely to watch the holiday scenes, would have loved to have a shot of the tyre skiing or whatever, shame I am a non swimmer.

Sadly tho only 6/10 for me

[redgrant]

A test of endurance in more ways than one - getting down and finding Cineworld in West India Quay then watching a 2 1/2 foreign film! But I think my patience definitely pa*d off. I did really enjoy it as it moves from comedy to drama in an instant. Yeah, the French Dustin Hoffman is uncanny. But I think there were a couple of issues:

Who the hell chose the incidental music? Some of it was OK but having a disco version of My Way at the funeral was off-piste. Sometimes it's laid on a bit too thick.

Why does the fisherman guy have a go at Dustin Hoffman at the end for showing off his house, his money etc.? Wasn't he doing all his mates a favour by inviting them down? Surely he's being generous?

Apart from these quibbles, a really good film and I would probably watch it again.

[Beate]

Cineworld WIQ was disappointingly empty for this.

You could find so many faults with this: it's too French (cheek-kissing ad nauseam), they talk and cry too much, nothing ever gets resolved - but I thought it was simply charming, and time flew by. It was very funny at times (Max looking for the weasels being a highlight) and quite sad at others. There were some cliches like "I will stay up all night and wait for you to change your mind and if you haven't turned up by 7am you will never see me again" but I didn't mind. Oh and the French men! I couldn't decide whether Eric or Antoine were more beautiful and soulful looking, and Max was the kind of stressed out git I am turning into sometimes - the kind who feels like shouting at a 6 year old for cheating at Hide and Seek, LOL.

OH loved the film too and the meal at La Tasca afterwards even more so he is happy.

7.5/10

I also must commend a_person for her quick thinking when she left the screening temporarily to come back and find herself in another film and her friends gone - she chose not to disturb the time-space continuum and settled down to watch Source Code instead.

[soonforgotten]

Character development. This film is all about it. There are a lot of characters and the audience gets a fully painted picture of each, painstakingly so. There's a great story here told through some magnificent performances. The big problem, though, is the pacing. It drags far more than it needs to and a good 30 minutes of this 150 minute piece could be shaved off without sacrificing much. The story could be just as effective, if not more so, as a tighter cut would reduce the likelihood of audience apathy. Adding to the risk of apathy is the fact these characters, no matter how well their likeability is established, they keep coming back to their realtionship to stricken best-mate, Ludo, who seems to be a (for lack of a better term) dick. The story would be far more effective were that character not seemingly self-absorbed and totally responsible for what happens to him. As it is, we're left with characters, who while deeply flawed, have varying levels of redeeming qualities and having invested so much time in them, it's left pretty unclear as to exactly why they hold Ludo in such high regard. It's frustrating as a viewer and makes for a less than satisfying conclusion.

This film has some great moments and performances supporting a story that could have had a lot of heart. The soundtrack is quite enjoyable and strikingly non-French with artists from The Isley Brothers to Creedence Clearwater Revival to Ben Harper being prominently featured. It amounts to a film with flashes of brilliance but settles at being too average for such a drawn out affair. 7/10

[Yinster]

well the film started set in a club, there were no subtitles but thought maybe they weren't bothering as the credits were still running.... then the film started properly, still no subtitles....

TBH I think you could have watched it without subtitles. Seriously though it was a decent enough film. Watched it in Glasgow to about 50% full/empty. Agree it is about 30 minutes too long. What made it worst was it didn't start till just after 18:45. Nothing before except a flash of a pink screen. Some laugh out loud bits, some so sad that my OH was crying and some general friendship stories. Kept thinking of Dustin Hoffman whenever Max was on and also Eric being a mash of Eric Cantona and Liam Neeson. Thought Marion Cotillard (Marie) was better in Inception. Plus why an all English speaking soundtrack? Would I think differently if the film wasn't french? Who knows. Perhaps someone in Hollywood has already got the rights to this?

[midian]

i really enjoyed this film. i laughed out loud so many times as it has lots of cringe/embarrassing comedy moments. it felt like a gentle riff on the french dinner table films (lots of talking heads not a lot of action).

tbh i was surprised it was 2.5 hours as i was engrossed. thoroughly recommended

and an absolutely wonderful soundtrack but needed some editing - if that's what it is called - as the music was occasionally just too loud and drowned out the speech! i really minded as i speak french so listen to the actors as well.