Boring

A Disappointing Continuation

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

I must admit the word "stupid" has been grabbing a lot of my attention recently. Wikipedia describes it as someone who initiates actions that they are aware will cause damage to themselves - my brief summary. It does not necessarily denote lack of intelligence - though it does beg the question a little - but rather, it focuses on the cognitive ability to understand the consequences clearly in light of destructive behaviour. Wiki does introduce Hanlon's Razor which states "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity" I have been fascinated by this topic a lot since my study into the workings of the human brain and the various neurological disorder (or whatever u wanna call them) that effect people's personalities and lives. This movie captivated me thoroughly. Not just because it draws a good portrayal of this young quasi-hustler gay man in the middle of France who is going through life aimlessly self-destructively, but also because it tells his story in such a subjective way which forces the audiences perception of him to verge on apathy and empathy. In some ways the this movies is a bit My Own Private Idaho and a bit Dancer in the Dark. I only wish it explored the psychological conditions he was suffering from a little more. Wonderful directing and cinematography, the acting is superb given the difficulty of the characters. Oh...and it's very similar to the movie The Stranger in US which I've reviewed earlier, though a much, much better exploration of gay mens' fascination with lost youth.

In spite of some (but not many!) shortcomings, I really liked this movie. It's a frank and boldly pictured account of a young man's confusion when he goes through the trials and errors of growing up. Like so many (if not all!) young men he has to deal with finding the balance between all kinds of feelings within him self and between him and the world around him.Of course it would have helped if the script had provided information about his background, his parents and his upbringing, about how he became so close to Marie or how he came to hustling and being so promiscuous. All this is left in the dark, and without this information there seem to be many potholes in the storyline that at times force you to make too big leaps to catch up with it. But on the other hand it also did make some sense, I guess it conjures up the same feeling of turmoil and confusion in the viewer that Loïc must be experiencing. It also gives the viewer a sort of objective perspective, watching this strange adolescent say and do all kinds of (stupid) things and all the while you think: why is he doing that? what's behind it? As an adult you are eager to find some ratio in all this, while an adolescent as Loïc doesn't bother at all for a ratio in his contradictory feelings and actions, he just acts and reacts, which is like the quintessence of being an adolescent: that you feel how it's all intimidating and scary and frustrating but you simply don't know why, the reasons and causes and connections are beyond your grip and control. I truly think that the script and direction illustrated this adolescent state of mind very effectively.Young actor Pierre Chatagny is absolutely great as Loïc. He radiated this genuine quality of a mixed personality that you see in so many youth: acting cool and at the same time childish and cute, trying to please and impress but also arrogant and suspicious of everyone, proud of his sexual prowess but insecure, all of this at once in the same person. Chatagny almost doesn't seem to be acting at all, he's a real natural and very convincing. The use of a fair amount of nudity in the movie is of course partly due to a European tradition of cinematic style, but to my mind it also is very functional: it illustrates the casual way in which Loïc uses his body and sexuality.Loïc tries desperately to convince everyone (Marie, Lionel and in the end obviously himself) that he knows what he's doing, that he has a purpose in life (travelling, becoming a photographer, getting a family) but he fails miserably and Baer shows these fruitless efforts with painful poignancy: looking up "big words" in the encyclopedia but failing to use them right; waving his cellphone around and making pointless pictures that no one cares about; talking vaguely about going abroad, maybe to Africa; stalking the soccer-player (who himself is a bit of a pathetic figure, discontent and complaining) whom he suddenly sees as a role-model. Marie, who's a little bit older and a lot wiser, sees through all this. As long as she smiles about it and plays along, their relation goes great, but when she at times gets annoyed by it and confronts him, he feels betrayed and humiliated and lashes out at her. In fact he's craving for acknowledgment of himself as an individual, of his own identity, but he knows not how to go about it and just uses the only things he's sure of: his body and his charm. When Lionel tries to search for the personality behind the facade, Loïc just cannot believe he's serious: why would anyone ever want to know anything more of him than his body and his sexuality!? Sure, I didn't like the way the movie turned out in the end, in my opinion it didn't need such a cruel and uncompromising event to wake up Loïc out off his egotistical self-absorbed state. But I'm not the director, and he thought it necessary and I have to live with that, as Loïc does. The last images with Loïc walking along a fair and suddenly seeing another guy impressed me as a kind of catharsis: the whirling of the merry-go-round resembled his life until then and out of all this turmoil unexpectedly comes up something good at last. I really felt glad for him.

The scenery & cinematography are excellent, The location is Lausanne Switzerland & surrounding area & is just beautiful.The lead actor is a 20 year old HUNK,who thinks he is gay, He has affairs with men he meets on the Internet. He also has a boring job in a chocolate making factory.He is also in a platonic relationship with a lovely young female museum worker.These scenes are well written & acted & you would think you may be seeing a first rate film,There is even a discussion on a certain dangerous sex act, which is seldom mentioned in films & talked about this well. There are a few well handled male/male sex scenes.All of a sudden there is a change of pace, (an auto accident involving our hero) all the scenes seem to slow down, It is to me, as if the director did not know what to do next & the last part of the film crawls. The title is somewhat misleading as our hero is for from stupid, The acting is definitely first rate all the wayThe movie is only 95 minutes long, the first 55 minutes are fine , then it starts to crawl to the ending.Ratings **1/2 *(out of 4) 79 points* (out of 100) IMDb 7 (out of 10)* This just misses being a *** film, but still a mild thumbs up.,

This film is an interesting tour through the experiences of the main character, Loïc. The title of this movie is perfect--Loïc is definitely un garçon stupide. He has no emotional attachment, save Marie, his roommate/friend. He hooks up with other men online--of various ages and preferences--for meaningless sex. His mind is blank and simple. He does not know even what Impressionism is, or who Hitler was. He is detached from everything around him.Lionel (who is also the director/writer/periodic cameraman) is a pivotal character in the change that Loïc undergoes. He explores new interests--most notably photography. He begins to learn that people can be interested in things other than sex. All the while, a turbulent undercurrent plays out for him. Marie has found someone. Though she does not spend an abundant amount of time with him, Loïc is thrown into a jealous rage. The two part ways, and Loïc becomes depressed.Seeking companionship, Loïc becomes fascinated with Rui, a local footballer. He follows Rui, watches his games, and exhibits stalker-like behavior, including photographing him without his consent. Then the movie falls apart. Marie dies, though it is not entirely clear if she killed herself (in the scene where Loïc finds her, she is on the bathroom floor, bleeding; there is a rope tied around her neck and the exercise bar that Loïc installed has been torn from the doorway). Loïc then runs away and visits Rui, a process which is never fully explained--he is invited into Rui's house, introduced to his son, and the three go on a picnic.It is then that a different Loïc is shown: one who is caring and compassionate. He cares for Rui, whose eyes were irritated by the sun. The scene then jumps to an overturned car driven by Loïc, and then to the hospital. A random man and his wife take care of Loïc until he is better. He then photographs a parade with socialists, communists, gay activists, and what appeared to be a fascist. The movie begins to end with him developing an identity, though it is not clear what that is. The final scene, and the only one in the last twenty-five or so minutes of the film that made a lot of sense to me is at a carnival. He wanders around, then gets on a ferris wheel. He is shown flirting with a guy in another seat, who looks back and smiles. The movie is an interesting exploration of Loïc's character, but the last few scenes are so fragmented that I'm left wondering what happened.