Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Jeanne et le Garçon Formidable (1997)
Director: Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
This ambitious contemporary musical quite literally makes a big production number out of AIDS. The virus looms large in the life of Jeanne (Ledoyen, gamine to a fault), who thinks she has found the perfect guy until he starts getting dizzy spells and ends up in the hospital. He's played by Mathieu Demy, son of Jacques, who of course made the definitive Gallic musical in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. No Michel Legrand score here, however, just bustling sub-Eurovision tunelessness which leaves the heart resolutely untouched. The jaunty choreography and vivid colours make a piquant contrast with the serious subject matter, but we never really believe in the characters enough for it to count. An enterprising idea, disappointing in execution.Author: TJ
Cast & crew
Director: Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau
Producer: Cyriac Auriol, Pauline Duhault
Cast: Virginie Ledoyen, Mathieu Demy, Jacques Bonaffé, Valérie Bonneton, Frédéric Gorny, Laurent Arcaro, Michel Raskine, Damien Dodane, Denis Podalydes full cast
Genre(s): Musicals
Duration: 105 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your review now