I’m wringing my hands together like Columbo did when he was on the brink of cracking a case, because if A Faithful Man does not prove my theory* that men stay too long in dysfunctional relationships, then I’ll eat my NFL hat (see the Columbo NFL hat trivia at https://m.imdb.com/review/rw4400766/). *I’ve written an essay detailing my theory called “High Time for a Male Self-Contentment Revival”, ask me I’ll share it with you. Request the essay pitch at my email: irun2eatpizza@hotmial.com
While a bit uneven in mood, A Faithful Man was entertaining and surprising. Concerned by the movie poster’s depiction of two women kissing one man, basically the story of my second marriage (well, he had about 5 others after him), would memories I’d like to keep in the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind category bubble to the surface? Mais non, c’est not what happened…sorry slipped back into English.
Louis Garrel wrote, directed and starred in this short movie (hour and fifteen) and was impressive as the lead. Louis does a fine job with a story that I can’t say much about without spoilers. I will say while I worried it was a film about silly men dependent on women, it may actually be a film about silly men dependent on women…AND it didn’t incense me, meaning the writing and acting were pleasant enough to make the sadness of men who stay with manipulative women not seem quite so tragic.
And speaking of women, the two leads were a mixed bag: Laetitia Casta, drop dead gorgeous (may I have her chest? instead of my pancakes?) was terrific. Lily Rose-Depp (Johnny’s daughter) seemed a bit transparent and cloying as the other woman.
Garrel’s story telling shone in his depction of the young boy (Joseph Engel) who to tie back to my Columbo reference is a bit of a sleuth himself. Engel was fantastic and probably has a big film future ahead of him.
A Faithful Man was a nice kick off for my first film in the Cine-World Film Fest.
