What’s In A Name?
Staring: Patrick Bruel, Charles Berling, Valerie Benguigui.
Directed by: Alexandre de La Patellière, Matthieu Delaporte.
Reviewed by Adam Harmer
[rating: 2/5]
In years gone by, we westerners have turned to foreign films for something different – an alternative to the American assembly line of commercial blockbusters which churns out, what is sometimes perceived as, an endless stream of predictability. While I do really love many of those grand American spectacles, in the past I’ve also found and relished countless foreign language masterpieces made by countries it seemed, at one time, were not tied down to a strict formula. Sadly, I find myself again and again thinking those days are a thing of the past.
Many of these smaller countries seem to have now found their three or four formulas for films they believe people want them to make and they churn them out like any corporate machine. Just because they don’t have explosions and car chases doesn’t mean they’re not predictable.
What’s In A Name is a French production based on a play Matthieu Delaporte, which is quite telling as almost all of the film plays out in real time within one apartment over an evening of eating, drinking and conversing between a small group of family and friends. The group consists of the usual suspects – the arrogant joker; the pretentious, liberal; the diplomatic wife; the shy, quirky friend, etc. The small dinner party comes as Vincent (Patrick Bruel) and his wife are about to have their first baby and an argument erupts over what the name of the child will be. The lengthy furor eventually dies down but it has opened deep wounds within the familiar group and over the rest of the evening, one by one, everybody begins airing grievances or revealing long kept secrets. Some of these events are designed with comedic effect and others more dramatic.
It’s easy to see where it’s all headed.
To call What’s In A Name a bad film just because it has a formula, would be as justified as doing the same to Raiders Of The Lost Arc or North By Northwest or The King’s Speech or any one of millions of other examples which is neither fair nor true. What’s In A Name isn’t a bad film. It has some genuine moments of humour and emotion. I will say that while I couldn’t pick a fault with either the acting or the development of the characters, none of the people presented or their situations struck me as particularly memorable. The childish bickering that continues on and on, while designed to be an element of humour, I quickly found quite tedious, but still within it all there definitely was a level of comfort and enjoyment, if only a little.
Just like any superhero summer blockbuster, or gritty New York thriller, the French comedic drama has become a well defined genre that progresses along step by step and this film fits into that archetype in a very cosy manner. Like any other genre, there is a very welcoming audience for these modern, easy-going, foreign language films. Even though I couldn’t say this was a great film, if you belong in this audience – and you’ll know if you do – I can’t see you not enjoying it.
