3 Friends (2007)
Three childhood friends support each other through life's ups and downs in this comedy/drama. Each goes through a difficult time in their life, and is "helped" by the others - always well-intentioned, but not always with the intended results! Baptiste's (Kad Merad) wife leaves him and he becomes depressed then obsessive-compulsive. César (Pascal Elbé) has a secret affair with his boss's daughter - he's nervous about seeing her in case dad finds out, but if he stops seeing her she threatens to tell all anyway - either way his job is on the line. Claire (Mathilde Seigner), adopted as a baby, struggles to decide whether to try and find her birth-mother.The links between the three play a crucial part in each of their lives - a deep and supportive bond, but one which risks preventing them ever forming a relationship with someone else.
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Reviews
Very disappointing...
People are voting emotionally.
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.
Inferior to Patrice Leconte's fine meditation on friendship 'Mon meilleur Ami', inferior as well to Michel Boujenah's first movie as a director 'Père et fils', '3 Amis' is - for all that- a pleasant comedy that will make you have a good time in a theater or later in front of your TV set or PC.The cast (Mathilde Seigner, a little more collected than usual, Kad Merad, Pascal Elbé and Yves Rénier) is top notch. And the comedy is generally effective; the most hilarious sequences are about Baptist (Merad) becoming fanatical about cleanliness, his "chance meeting" with a call-girl as well as César (Elbé)'s innumerable blunders. And the appearance of Philippe Noiret in his last role is a plus. To see one of the greatest French actors ever in such poor health is heartbreaking but as soon as Noiret starts speaking you forget cancer and admire his legendary acting skills. In the rather brief role of a garage owner he displays subtle irony and perfect timing.Too bad this film remains a bit superficial. Although the misadventures of these three friends are funny, I felt a bit dissatisfied at the end of the film. I would have liked a more thorough examination of the notion of friendship, the mysterious ties that bind individuals despite the hazards of everyday life, the way Patrice Leconte had done in 'Mon meilleur Ami'. In spite of this, '3 amis' illustrates fairly well the fact that friendship is not a linear process, that it has ups and downs ant that - just like love -it must be kept alive and re-invented to exist and to keep existing. A fair effort on the whole, but Michel Boujenah can no doubt do better.