Monique (2002)

Thanks for the memories!

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

I watched the movie yesterday and must admit that this is a pretty good one, although not the best ever. First of all one of the good arguments in favor of the movie is the very fact that this tackles the common issue of midlife depression in a very different way than it usually is dealt with. Second, the "carpe diem" feeling is very strong. The scenes with all of Alex's wife's friends coming to see him and convince to give up the molded doll is extremely funny on the one hand, and added to this it is sooooo true, so close to what reality would bring such a situation to ! After all, the movie is all about going blindly the way you want to, without paying attention to common society safeguards. Alex does what he wants, although everybody think his having a relationship with a doll makes him some sort of perverse ans sick guy. Even more, he eventually decides to take his doll out, and show everybody that he doesn't feel guilty nor sick. He's even proud of this relationship with the doll, and therefore proves his friends' and wife's feeling that their "common normal life" is very good. You'd first think that he's the one who might consider himself sick, but in the end everybody around him gets interested into his new silicone girlfriend, and all of a sudden everybody seem to realize that their common lifestyle and everyday life is as boring as ALex first considered his own life. Everybody needs a Monique, that would be the last word of the movie.

I just saw the movie and I find it fantastic. It's all about having the guts to fulfill your passions, your fantasies, your ideals without paying attention to what others, society have to say about it. It proves that counts in love is not the reality, but ideas, desires and, most of all, faith! I mean, Alex certainly proves some kind of jealousy for Monique, a silicon doll. it also shows how much love is a personal construct and let people express their deep ideals. it's not about the perfect doll-woman; it is about Alex's desired Monique. don't go to see it if you are one of the 80% of American women thinking that their neighbors do nasty things and that only they, they aren't. and hold your moral, duty sense.

I've just seen the movie, and it was quite a nice surprise for me. although it contains a lot of Hollywood-style touches, there are plenty of original elements to offer a comforting change versus the usual American comedy. without going into spoilers, i can just say that one must be French to put that much sex in a movie without making it boring an without letting it be just about sex. actually, the movie presents a rather common theme - midlife crisis for men - placing it in a rather forced, yet comedy-creating context. I think one should be more into the French modern lifestyle to get all the hints, but it's quite enjoyable even without it. another thing i just have to state is that Marianne Denicourt is drop-dead gorgeous, and her acting is not bad either :-). the support cast does the job pretty nice, but every once in a while you can get that "TV production" feeling, mainly because of the settings. All in all, a movie that can improve someone's evening.

After nice French movies like 'Le Fabuleux Destin ...' and 'L'Auberge Espagnole', 'Monique' shows us that France can also make very bad movies. There are some scenes very funny in this movie, but they can't make the people forget the stupid story. The cast are doing their very best, it's a pity. 'Monique' is not a good movie, that's for sure!