Harry, He's Here to Help

This quirky comedy-thriller cum psychological study charts the encounter between a young couple facing a tough holiday in the Auvergne with their troublesome kids, and the likeable but clearly loopy Lopez - an old schoolmate of the husband, now wealthy, generous and determined to revive and encourage his long-forgotten (and hardly realistic) writing ambitions. At first, as Lopez and his girl (Guillemin, bovine as in L'Ennui) wheedle their way into Lucas and Seigner's lives, the tone is wittily offbeat (yet rooted in an impressively plausible portrait of everyday banality); as the demands of friendship become more complex, however, the film takes a turn into altogether darker territory. Lopez, excellent as ever, gets superb support all round, while director/co-writer Moll handles the shifts in tone with quiet assurance.