«The Game», a bittersweet comedy

Cinema Wednesdays - Jonas Follonier

A couple of thirty-somethings or aspiring forty-somethings gather for another evening with friends, in a classy apartment. Most of them are couples; only Ben (Grégory Gadebois) is in solo, his freshly-arrived companion with the «gastro» bug. The evening promises to be a pleasant one, even if the dishes cooked by their guest, Vincent (Stéphane De Groodt), are not exactly mouth-watering. But «it's a surprise» - as Vincent puts it, with a delightfully benign air - and we'll leave it to you too, dear future viewers.

The whole plot is set in motion when Marie (Bérénice Bejo) suggests that each of her friends place their phone on the table and, as a game, read aloud all the messages they receive, whatever they may be, to the other people around the table. A game, you see, that's not to everyone's taste, and understandably so. As a comedy of manners is wont to do, for it is a comedy of manners, the game will quickly turn sour, the wine will turn sour, and the laughter will turn yellow sooner than expected, including for the spectator.

A hexagonal comedy, with its qualities and faults

Des amants dans les placards (Lovers in the closet): basically, that's what you're looking for when you go to see this kind of hexagonal comedy, and when the plot is finely crafted, it's a success. Let's just say it right off the bat: The Game is fundamentally a success. We often laugh, even when our laughter means: «Actually, eh bé, Maybe this story is mine.» Famous catharsis a comedy that strips us of our filth! Directed by Fred Cavayé and adapted from the work of Paolo Genovese, this one-and-a-half-hour feature takes us back to our own image, as our smartphones, precisely.

A few actors stand out from the crowd in this film: Stéphane de Groodt confirms his excellence in the role of a redneck chic,a sublime Bérénice Bejo in the role of his wife, who understandably received nine awards for her role in The Artist in 2012 alongside Jean Dujardin, a Dora Tillier who marries her spontaneous character of a woman in love and radiant to perfection, and a very moving Grégory Gadebois in the resolution, more than anything else in his interpretation of this key phrase: «When you love someone, you protect them».»

Dora Tillier in «Le Jeu», a comedy by Fred Cavayé © Agora Films

Unfortunately, the rest of the cast is not quite up to the task, and struggles to make this «play» anything other than theatrical. On that note, The Game looks like a First name a little underwhelming. The film is a huis clos - a good choice, obviously - but for a huis clos to be effective, it seems that the actors« investment must be such that the audience forgets that it's a »game" at all. With changes of scenery, great music and action scenes necessarily absent, the whole rhythm of this cinema rests on the shoulders of the actors, so they're expected to deliver, and there's some good and some not-so-good, which perhaps explains why we come away from the film a little frustrated.

The fact remains, however, that The Game is a must-see film, if only for the drama that the inside of iPhones and Samsungs can represent in the life of a modern couple. And also, it has to be said, for the little sociological gems that every French comedy worthy of the name offers, illustrating in a «bon enfant» atmosphere the ridiculousness of this great middle class to which we belong. By way of spoil - I love playing with fire - this eminently beauf of Ben at the sight of Vincent's daughter: «She's grown up, eh! The film is sure to leave you feeling a little grown-up, too.

Write to the author: jonas.follonier@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © Agora Films