Les garçons et Guillaume, à table! (2013) Reviews

• You smile, you laugh, you sympathize, you cry

  nico-gordes2013-11-13

  The trailer of the movie was very promising and the film itself delivered even more. The film achieves the tour de force of being absolutely hilarious and deeply touching at the same time. The subject of this movie would easily have lent itself to a drama, but the comedy treatment is just perfect here. You smile, you laugh, you sympathize, you cry -- there's so much emotions, sensitivity, wit in this movie! And that's what cinema is all about. In addition to being very well written and acted, I was amazed at how well directed the movie was. The music was extremely good, too. Kudos to Guillaume Gallienne for bringing us such a masterpiece!

• When you realise who you are, you set yourself free

  Chessurrr2014-07-08

  I went to the cinema, not expecting anything that I would rate higher than 5/10. I looked through a synopsis (that, as I later realised, didn't communicate either the spirit or the idea of the movie) and decided to take my chances. "Comedy" - one of the mentioned genres - actually turned out to be a comedy (not always the case for me, as I am sure for many other people out there). Of course, there are scenes that make you smile, and there are those that don't quite reach your "amusement" nerve. Nevertheless, all in all I did find it entertaining. Secondly, I loved the atmosphere of the movie. It was as though the author lets you in his private life, thoughts - into his head. It feels like you are walking along with him throughout his life, like an imaginary friend. Finally, the idea (at least the one I've extracted for myself). It struck a nerve in me to be honest. I am thankful to this movie because it made me think about something we (at least I) ignore on the daily basis: how society shapes us according to its our own views, forcing its perception of truth on people who under so much pressure of seeming certainty of others (be it random strangers or even family) get confused and crumble, trying to become a person they are 'supposed to be'. Thus, only where you discover your own truth, you become free, and those artificial conventions no longer hold any power over you. I would definitely recommend this movie to my friends (and I have been doing it since I saw it :)). Even if my review doesn't seem extremely appealing, give Guillaume a chance.

• Not all sissies are gay, get it?

  lasttimeisaw2014-04-08

  Winning 5 trophies of César Awards this year including BEST FILM (fending off tough competitors like STRANGER BY THE LAKE 2013, 8/10; THE PAST 2013, 8/10 and BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR 2013) and BEST ACTOR, for the director-debut of triple threat farceur Guillaume Gallienne (director, writer and leading actor), and more strikingly, he plays two opposite roles, Guillaume and his mother. Treading off the beaten track, it is an ingenious counter-coming-out story of an effeminate boy Guillaume, who is assumed by his family to be gay because of his outlandish deportment, being lackadaisical in sports and the accurate mimicry of his mother's intonation, all the way he is trying to comply with her expectation, to love men like a girl. Guillaume learns how to dance like a girl, enrolls in different all-male boarding schools, observes girls' unique comportment, the way of how they utter, nurtures a crush on the handsome jock, dodges military service, arranges sorties to gay club, to experience sex, after all the stereotyped attempts to be a normal gay, he meets the love of his life, Amandine, a genuine girl. The film opens as a live premiere of a monologue play by Guillaume, who farcically recounts his autobiographic anecdotes and intermittently mama pops up to conduct the make-believe conversations with him, everything is saturated with uplifting vivacity and hilarious skits, never too lewd or offensive, Götz Otto and Diane Kruger's cameos as a beefy masseur and an enema nurse are sidesplitting. Also the mockeries of professional psychiatrists are sterling bursting points. All in all, underscored by Wagner's magnificent Tannhauser Overture, Guillaume accomplishes his rite-of-passage by overcoming his fear of horse, and finally he understands who he is, and the last confession is to come out to be straight, feminine surely, but he is a heterosexual man who loves woman. No melancholy, it is an out-and-out fine piece of French comedy, Guillaume is daring enough to take on both challenging characters, a young man half his age, and a middle-aged woman with a reserved caricature of frigidity and supremacy. He somehow pulls off both roles, with admirable talent of imitation to be wacky and sincere at the same time, it is not only a boy's path of knowing his true id, it is also an inconspicuous ode to a mother's profound attachment to her son, it may be overbearing, but the ethos of unconditional support is universally appealing.

• Boys...Guillaume.. Dinner's ready !!

  Granita_GelsiNeri2014-01-19

  Saw this film in Paris recently. Heard it was a huge success. I was wondering what all the hoopla was about, so saw it. Right from the start, I was glued to the screen. The acting, the direction, the plot, the dialogue, the music,-- everything was all extremely well done. The film is touching, funny, and poignant. Guillaume Gallienne is a huge talent ! He is absolutely adorable. Not only did he act in the lead part (and played the mother too!) but he also wrote the screenplay and directed! The fact that it is based upon a true story makes it all the more emotive and heart-rending. It is a delicately created work of art that is not pretentious at all. Would have loved to have seen the theatre piece as well ! BRAVO Señor Gallienne! Usted es un genio !

• A Movie about Gender and Sexuality by Someone Who Seems to Know Nothing about the Topic

  rabbitfish632014-12-10

  Wow, when I started this movie, I thought it was really unique and well done. The performance by the writer/director was astounding, especially his dual role as Guillaume and Mother. The audaciousness of having adult actors playing children somehow worked completely, and the movie began as a remarkable tale of a transgendered girl coping with knowing she was something other than what people saw. The fact that she tried to cope with her confusion by trying to be a gay man made total sense, but it was obviously not a correct fit. The logical place for the movie to go was her self-acceptance as a trans woman. Instead, the bizarre ending where HE figured out that he was heterosexual and masculine-presenting and only wanted to be a woman to show his mother he loved her was patently ridiculous. If you're going to make a movie about gender and sexuality, you might actually want to research the topics. The ending completely confused gender, sexuality and presentation. I might be willing to say, "Well, he was confused by his mom's love and found out who he was in the end" if it hadn't been for the fact that someone who had spent his whole life presenting as effeminate and deriving satisfaction from playing female roles suddenly became this little masculine-presenting, stereotypically heterosexual man. All because he saw the "right woman." This kind of bullshit so spits in the face of people who are struggling because their gender does not conform to societal norms that I was left completely appalled and angry. Guillaume Gallienne is extraordinarily talented as both performer and director. Someone must have told him he could be the next Rowan Atkinson because he has a long, pointless episode at a spa in the middle that seems to be a Mr. Bean sketch. It is mostly unfunny and completely derails the movie. Although it is preferable to unbelievable and offensive ending.