Very disappointed :(

Purely Joyful Movie!

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

My score of a 6 is lower than most ratings for this movie. I think much of this is because I found myself irritated by Jeanette and could see no reason for Marius to fall for her. To me, she was VERY bad tempered and crabby. This combined with their first meeting (when Marius caught her stealing paint) made the entire relationship unsatisfying and a bit ridiculous. Yes, Marius was lonely but couldn't he have found better? If they had written her part a little better, it would have been a much better film. Also, this film might put off some of the more politically conservative viewers, as the virtues of communism are touted by one of the main characters and the film is "dedicated to the workers". This is a very French sentiment--where communism, socialism and conservatism have coexisted for some time.

A rather tender and poignant love story, about Jeannette who is an outspoken woman, and looses her job as a cashier because she is apt to speak her mind once too often. She meets up with the taciturn Marius. They both have painful pasts to deal with. Guediguian creates a finely judged low-key film from this story, weaving in some nice touches about the small community of friends from the industrial area where Jeannette lives. Guediguian's strong left-of-centre politics intrude into the narrative rather crudely at times, but not enough to spoil the film.Recommended.

This movie kind of reminded me of a cross between "Life is Sweet" (a humorous examination of the lower-middle class), "The Bridges of Madison County" (an examination of how middle aged people actually continue to have libidos and emotions), and a random French romantic love farce.The director tries to give this film a political slant, showing the perils of capitalism in favor of socialism, and dedicates this film "to all of the workers of the world." Ignore it. Focus instead on the characters, most of whom are people much like people you have met in your life, with French sensibilities. The love story between the main characters is basically an excuse to get to know this small community of neighbors and show how they interact.This is not one of the great films of all time, but I enjoyed it. It was a pleasant way to spend a little under two hours.

This movie is for those who want to believe that life can be pleasant even if one is a broke divorced unemployed mother of two without prospects as long as one believes. In this case the requisite belief is not in god or in life everlasting but in love & some communitarian evolution of romanticized communism. Our once deserted and once widowed unemployed heroine finds love amongst the deconstructing ruins of a cement factory with its emotionally and "physically" crippled security guard. The film is not unrelieved tendentious reality though the only action is a rather bloody bar room brawl from which the protagonists escape drunk but without injury. The one great myth that deserves debunking is that a dozen people in a third of a dozen seperate households can live cheek by jowl in a fading tenement, sharing all intimacies and still like each other. I was somewhat mean in giving it a 6 but it sure isn't worth the 8.7 average rating that prompted me to see it. The French must have different eyes.