Movie #679 ........................."Jeme Suis Fait Tout Petits"

Movie #679 "Jeme Suis Fait Tout Petits" (I Made Myself Quite Small -- the title refers to a henpecked husband joking of his situation) I had the hardest time finding this one because I only had the French title and didn't know what it meant, since I saw it in French (with English subtitles!) but I found this very enjoyable, very easygoing, funny and humane. I never knew what the next scene would bring. The strength is not in the plot, though, but in the casting --- very engaging people that you can identify with. And I had never seen a movie on the topic ---- I've seen movies where the father reconciles with his child that he never knew he had and he's awkward about it, but this was different. This guy's sister is raising his two daughters who were abandoned by the ex wife --- and now comes along a child that his ex wife had with another man --- He at first doesn't want the little boy to be raised by his sister (who volunteers to take him in) because he resents the heck out of the kid and doesn't want him in his life at all! but then the kid rubs off on him, and that's when the trouble begins, for a guy who doesn't want any attachments. Thus, the title. I read some French reviews of this and the actor who plays the lead I guess is some up and coming young "Robert De Niro" and they expect much more in the future --- it would be fun to see if that all pans out, but for this performance, he was really really good! I gave it 3.5 stars out of 5 There is nothing to keep Yvan in Paris. A 30-something schoolteacher, he is ready to pack up and start a new life somewhere else. It has been five years since his wife left him to live with her new lover in Thailand. Since, he has mooched about, uncertain what to do next with his life. His teenage daughters have left him, preferring to live with his sister Ariane than the miserable, prematurely middle-aged man he has become. Just when Yvan has made up his mind to leave Paris, two people enter his life and arouse him from his emotional slumbers. They are: Léo, the product of his ex-wife’s love affair with another man, and Emmanuelle, a vivacious colleague at the school where he works. Yvan soon discovers he has two reasons to stay and rebuild his life... Credits Director: Cécilia Rouaud Script: Cecilia Rouaud Photo: Renaud Chassaing Cast: Vanessa Paradis (Emmanuelle), Denis Ménochet (Yvan Le Doze), Laurent Lucas (Luc), Louise Grinberg (Elise), Léa Drucker (Ariane), Valérie Karsenti (Claire), Laurent Capelluto (Simon), Grégory Gadebois (Le proviseur), Angèle Garnier (Manon), Jade Samba-Seale (Plume), David Carvalho-Jorge (Léo) Country: France Language: French Runtime: 96 min