Diagonaldi Very well executed

ClassyWas Excellent, smart action film.

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Delight Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Reno Rangan I knew it was a romance film, but totally unexpected what I just saw. It was different, that's all, other than that there are many similar films that were already made. The film's focus was not the characters, but the phases and the pace of a romance. The love at the beginning and the same love at some time in the latter. The differences what the film highlights. But it's impossible without the characters and their perspectives. So, from the beginning to the end, how a romance can evolve, how it influences other around, all the fun, crazy stuffs, is the film.The film was partially inspired by the director's own married life. Nice casting and performances. I felt like there was no depth in narration. Depth means, you can't understand the characters fully. Everything it lets you know are the events from where the film begins. So basically it is all about the romance and nothing else. Not even their professions, or the friends and any side incidents, except those topics were used in places in a small quantity to fill the void and make a clean flow of the story. The whole two hours is like about an insane romance. Again, that part divides into two, the first half of the film and the next half.In the first half, it's all about the initiation. Girl meets boy, instantly fall in love with each other and do crazy things to build the character. It seems like any romantic film, but it all necessarily designed to manage what follows in the later part. Apart from the two who are well positioned from their professional level, it looked kind of like a rich guy meets an economically average girl. Then entering his world, and beginning to taste the royal lifestyle, as well as a sweet romance. The story was mainly told from the woman's perspective. The narration had double layer, going back and returning to present, the two timeline story was revealed to us.❝I prefer not to be in love and not get hurt.❞The woman seems intentionally met with an accident in the opening, and she begins to remember her recent past. Her unexpected crazy romance with a rich playboy. While recovering from the knee injury, she makes some friends and they all help each other to come out of their struggle. On the other side of the narration, revealed everything she went through. Not just a happy love story, but struggles over the time pass by. Having a child, being parents, the life drastically changes for both of them. Yet their love and care for each other remains somewhere in the deep of their hearts. Then there is a life, every moment is unpredictable. So how it ends was not that I surprised, because of its realistic.At one point, I thought it could be the French 'The Notebook'. It did not have emotional end. I'm not saying about sad or happy ending, but the film was honest to the real world. How the second half turned out was the excellent twist in the narration, but done with slowly. This was about the people in their late 30s or 40s. That makes the film is mainly for middled aged people. Otherwise, if the characters and their generation were brought down to like the 20s, the film would have been totally another level. And would have had a more target audience. That's what most of the Hollywood films focus on these days.The same film in Hollywood would have been one of the frontrunner for the Oscars. The performances were really great. Particularly Emmanuelle Bercot was awesome. As usual, Vincent Cassel showed his class, proved why he's one of the top stars in France. I thought two hours was a bit long, but the writing was good, they had filled the film nicely with the events that helped further to grow stronger in the following scenes.Despite I consider it a nice film, I don't think everybody would enjoy. They might like it at the end, enjoy watching is not that comes along. Because it is not an entertainment film, nor an art. As I said before, realistic about the relationship and its maturity in the modern world. The other options for the relationship, despite putting all the efforts to save it like people did in the previous century. So, all I say is choose it wisely.7/10

David Ferguson Greetings again from the darkness. We have all had that friend who falls head over heels for someone we know is not good for them. If we are a dutiful friend, we make every effort possible to open their eyes before it's too late. Sometimes they are simply too far gone to listen … and what follows is a roller-coaster of emotions, or even an outright train wreck. Writer/director (and sometimes actress) Maiwenn, who was once married to director Luc Besson, finds much to examine in the roller-coaster relationship of Georgio and Marie/Tony.The story is viewed through the eyes (and recollections) of Marie/Tony played with exuberance by Emmanuelle Bercot. After a skiing "accident", Tony goes to a rehabilitation center to receive post-surgery treatment. While her knee is healing, she also spends her time self-analyzing a tumultuous and destructive relationship with her ex Georgio (Vincent Cassel). It's easy to see the parallels for her learning to walk again, while also learning to live again.Tony is a successful criminal attorney and self-described "normal" woman. She falls hard for the exciting Georgio, a life-of-the-party type. Tony's brother Solal (Louis Garrel) and Georgio's suicidal ex Agnes (Chrystele Saint Louis Augustin) are both against this relationship, but it's challenging to stop the love bug when it hits this hard. The film acts as a blueprint of how relationships and falling in love can start strong, build to a crescendo, and then crash and burn.Georgio has many childlike characteristics. He is fine when he gets his way, but explosive and manipulative at the drop of a hat. He is fully engaged in phase one which is filled with passion, lust, fun and excitement; however, once the everyday toil and maintenance of the relationship is required, his bi-polar personality becomes difficult to watch.Addiction plays a key role here. Georgio is addicted to freedom, partying, and drugs; Tony is addicted to the excitement and passion that he delivers to her "normal" life. There are some cinematically rare "real life" scenes scattered throughout, and none better than the couple's first time in bed, and a later dinner scene where Georgio's charm and manipulation skills are on full display as he puts Tony in a no-win situation.Vincent Cassel has joined Mads Mikkelsen on my short list of actors that I will watch regardless of the project. His screen presence is powerful and emotionally-driven, and here he generates both admiration and disgust at varying times. We understand why Tony is in a "can't live with him, can't live without him" mode. Emmanuelle Bercot (also a writer and director for other films) manages to cover the full spectrum of emotions during the film, and she takes us along for the self-reflection. We pull for her even as we question her sanity at times. Somehow we get it … he's the king of jerks, but he's her king. If only she had listened...

Mobithailand 'Mon Roi' ("My King"), which was selected to compete in the Cannes Film Festival, is a typical French tale of a tortuous relationship between a highly charismatic man (Georgio) and a woman (Tony) who he charms into marriage.Most of the movie is told in flashbacks. Tony is in rehabilitation following a serious Skiing accident in which there is a suggestion that it might have been a deliberate attempt at suicide. Here she meets some much younger, diverse characters who offer her support and become firm friends. It is during this time that she looks back over her life with Georgio.The two were very much in love, and at first, things go very well. Georgio owns a smart restaurant and Tony is carried away with his lifestyle and his 'joie de vivre'. He sweeps her off her feet, even though there are a number of early warning signs that things may eventually go a bit awry.He takes her to a wedding ceremony without advance warning where he happens to be the best man; then she meets one of his ex-girlfriends (Agnes) who is working at Georgio's restaurant, and who accuses Tony of stealing her boyfriend. Next, Georgio insists that Tony becomes pregnant – and when she duly complies, the two get married.Things get worse. On hearing the news of the marriage, Agnes tries to kill herself and in the aftermath, Georgio insists on taking care of her. The newly married couple fight many times and separate, only to reconcile again. By this time Georgio is living in his own apartment for much of the time and Tony catches him with a strange girl in his bed.There is much more, but although my review does contain a few spoilers, I won't tell you what happens and completely ruin it for those who want to watch it.Very few western couples succeed in remaining together for their entire lives, and this movie is a typical story of incapability. Despite the unquenchable fiery love between them, it is clear that love alone is not enough to support a marriage.The clever flashbacks, the high production values and the outstanding acting of the entire cast, including the young people Tony meets at the rehabilitation centre and Tony's brother and his girlfriend, who act as Tony's counsellors, make this movie a real gem to watch.But it is the two central characters played by Emmanuelle Bercot (Tony) and Vincent Cassel who plays a blinder as Georgio that makes this film so watchable and believable. Bercot picked up the best actress gong at the Cannes Film Festival.'Mon Roi' is a masterpiece of French filmmaking, and they didn't need a 'cop whodunit' or a mass shooting or a hostage-taking or a terrorist outrage to have me glued to the screen throughout its two hours + length.

Pasha Ivanov Tony is recovering from a leg trauma in a rehabilitation centre on the border of the sea. But the real trauma is in her soul. Reflecting on what brought her to this point in her life she is remembering the affair with handsome and unpredictable Georgio, and their turbulent relationship over the last ten years. It brought her happiness but also a lot of pain. How soon will she be back on her feet again? Will she ever?If you like dramatic love stories you may instantly recognize the premise of the film, it had been used hundreds of times. A heroine going down the memory lane to figure out what had gone wrong. There's one thing, however, that makes MY KING to stand out – it is a very honest film with a very real, raw feel to every scene, performance and dialogue. The very intelligent but plain looking Tony seems like an odd match to charismatic and larger than life Georgio, however the sparks that are flying on screen cannot be ignored. Their affair and their relationship are believable and over the course of the film you will learn them as intimately as if they were your close friends.There are a lot of jokes, but also a lot of sadness in the film. The film's episodic structure may be a turn off for many, but there is a feeling that the director is always in control, leading the story the right way and fixing things as soon as the narrative begin to stumble a little.Instead of focusing on the fantastic performances from Vincent Cassel and Emmanuelle Bercot, I want to say a few words about Louis Garrel. He is only in a supporting role of Tony's younger brother, however his presence adds realism to the story and a much needed comic relief. He is one of those actors who make anything he is in a little better.MY KING gives us a very unusual relationship, but highlights the problems everyone can identify with. Without preaching or judgement this is an honest portrait of a marriage and love and everything else that comes with it.FOR MORE FRENCH FILM REVIEWS PLEASE VISIT MY WEBSITE:http://pashasfilms.blogspot.com.au/