Simply Perfect

Load of rubbish!!

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Loved this movie, though it was frustrating to keep wondering if they were ever going to connect, and if so, stay connected. Well, that was part of the allure of the film. Bryne and Devos were both wonderful. Their attraction to each other was so intense and lovely, both soulful and physical. I loved to watch their faces and know what they were feeling. Never know who you might meet on a train!

One may wonder what it was all about, when they got out of the movie theater after watching this movie. I did. I felt half perplexed, half bewildered. What is it Alix really after or why she thought she would get it from a stranger does not stack up. And most of the scenes somewhat did not stack up credibility. Scenes look like staged up coincidences with many flaws and gaps. Such as, Alix going to a funeral of a person she did not even know, just to meet the stranger in the train she was obsessed with. Adding further confusion, Doug somewhat shows that he does not know what was going around him either. A particular irrational scene was when Alix tells Doug that she is seven months pregnant. He doesn't seem surprised and plays quite cool about it which is confusing. It doesn't add any value to the movie and actually questions what it brings to the smooth flow of their romance. The end scenes are still confusing too. It looks Alix is confused what to do with her partner Antoine who never shows up in the movie. She obviously gets sick of him but her sudden invitation to him for her show, just after leaving Doug is mind twisting.However, the acting of both Devos and Byrne are exemplary. Director Bonnell uses close-ups quite often, quite smartly. Especially the facial expressions and sharp, haunting eyes of Devos stands quite tall in the movie which successfully fill the gaps in the storyline to a greater extent. Byrne mostly succeeds in playing the right facial expressions too, helps to build up the consistency of the rhythm of the movie.There is not much of a story, and Bonnell could have done a better job by making his own screenplay a trustworthy one. If it was not for the great acting of the main two characters, the movie doesn't hold much matter. Major portion of my ratings of 7 is absolutely for the performances of Alix and Doug.

A typical talky French film describing a romantic relationship between a man and a woman. Perhaps the unusual here is that the two main actors are older than usual. Gabriel Byrne was more than 60 years old when he filmed this; Emmanuelle Devos almost 50 (both look a bit younger than their years). She is a struggling French theater actress, He is an Englishman traveling to France to say goodbye to a dear friend, though we never get to know much more than that about him. They met on the train though at that time they did not talk to each other; in Paris, she finds him again by chance outside a church during a funeral. She decides to crash the funeral, and then follows him to his hotel; she insinuates herself into his hotel room where they soon have sex, even if they barely know each other. With time, we learn more about the Devos character: she has a boyfriend in Paris she is trying to contact to tell him some very important news to no avail. The Devos character is flaky and difficult, but she is not completely unlikable. The Gabriel Byrne character, on the other hand is a cipher, as the actor has an expressionless look throughout the movie: this is possible the worst flaw of the film. There are a couple of fine scenes that has little to do with the plot: in the best one, we see her during an audition. The soundtrack has some fine classical music, though it has no relation to the plot or the movie.

Déja Vu would be a gross understatement to describe "Just a sigh" directed by Jérôme Bonnell. It does not offer any new story to viewers. Moreover, all of us have seen countless films with two strangers meeting on a public transport, having sex and moving on in their lives to their individual paths. This theme is so overrated that one feels bored at the mere mention of a film belonging to this genre."Le Temps De L'Aventure" begins as a film about unknown lovers but shifts its focus to reveal family conflicts especially a troubled relationship involving two sisters. However, this sub plot does not contribute much to sustain viewers' interest. One really wonders how such films without an ounce of a good story manage to find finances. Although there are not too many lines in French language for his role as an actor, Gabriel Byrne looks completely lost. Emmanuelle Devos is brilliant as her other films. However, her reputation as a fun loving "serious actress" can get damaged if she chooses to do any more film of this kind. Lastly, due to its regional setting, a film about a French woman falling in love with a non French speaking person in a day has limited interest for viewers interested in world cinema.