Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Jools I don't understand the excessive rating of 7.3/10, I probably missed out something major. I guess the very bad acting and the poor and dull, non "natural" dialogues (french is my mother tongue and I have never heard anyone speak like the characters) made a very bad impression on me since the first minutes.The plot is plain simple, trying to find a new husband for a friend is a fair move but there is no twist or anything. It just takes 1h50 of plenty of useless shots to get to the happy end.Bad, very bad experience for me, I don't really feel like watching other films from E Rohmer.

soo-soo I somehow managed to miss this when it came out, despite being a Rohmer fan since the 70s. It was a heartbreaking disappointment - I was so aware of the acting (ie they were actors, not characters) and the selfconscious and deeply unlikely dialogue and plot contrivances. So unlike the his naturalistic previous films, that made you feel you were eavesdropping and observing snippets of real life. The basic premise could have been so promising - a feisty widow in her middle years, torn between wanting a man in her life yet afraid of making the move to find one and her kindhearted friend, secure in her relationship, trying to help her. Apart from Magali, who was oddly realistic if irritating, none of the other characters rang true -except perhaps Leo and Isabelle's husband who were barely painted in at all. Rosine trying to fix up her ex-lover with her current boyfriend's mother? - I can sort of understand her feelings toward Magali, as I remember being more upset about losing the friendship I had with an ex's mother when we parted, than losing the ex himself, but this really got into some odd quasi-incestuous fields. Lovely as she is, I can't really see men reacting to Rosine's manipulations as calmly as Etienne and Leo did here. And Gerald - his reaction on being told he had been strung along was unlikely - he confessed he has started to have feelings for Isabelle, but seemed quite happy to take the substitute.In reality, I think Isabelle would have been left sitting there in the restaurant. On a more positive note, there was a real feel of the Rhone Valley - not the tourist dream, but a part hardworking rural, part industrial reality that is modern France.

MartinHafer This was a little film with a simple plot and likable characters. In fact, Hollywood would learn a lot from films like this. It's not the dynamic plot, special effects or big name stars that often make a film exceptional, it's the writing and the acting! And this movie is written so lovingly and acted so honestly that I couldn't help but like it. This, despite the notable absence of the sensational elements in the movie, made for a wonderful film. Think about it--the basic plot is an older woman who owns her own small winery is lonely. So, her friend tries to find a man for her and so does her grown child. Talk about your simple plot! And yet it works! So if you are in the mood for something different, give this movie a try.

taylor9885 Pauline Kael once made the comment that she heard a man say, enthousiastically, "It's so French!" when coming out of a so-so film, and hated the mixture of complacency and cultural one-upmanship contained in the remark. Rohmer appeals to snobs, mainly: people who disdain American films because they are made with big budgets and bankable stars, and the story had better move forward.This is Beatrice Romand's sixth film with Rohmer, Marie Riviere's seventh. By now the octogenarian director has gotten so stuck in the groove with these actresses he can direct in his sleep (I never felt that way with Bergman and Bibi Andersson, or Liv Ullmann). Push the Romand button, you get pouty obstinacy, arms crossed defiantly. Riviere gives you smiling indulgence, matronly charm--she's a sort of June Allyson. This is a really tiresome picture lacking story, characterization, social comment, any of the things I look for in French cinema. Rohmer is like one of those old singers who should have retired years ago, but the fans keep going to the shows because they're afraid to admit they're aging too. Avoid.