RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Sharkflei Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

lazarillo This is the sequel to the unlikely 1971 hit "Friends", a movie about rich British boy living in Paris who meets a poor, orphaned French girl and runs off with her to "play house" in the countryside, only to end up with a child. It's three years later and Paul has just graduated as head boy from a tony private school and is planning to attend the Sorbonne in the fall. He decides to spend the summer seeking out Michelle and his illegitimate child (apparently they'd never heard of legally obligated child support in France at the time). He finds her living with another man (Keir Dullea), who is an accomplished judo master. Just when you think Paul is finally going to get his teeth kicked down his throat (after he takes Michelle to a cheap hotel for sex on their first get-reacquainted date), Dullea's character does something quite unbelievable instead which clears the way for the movie to needlessly cover the EXACT same ground it had already trod in the first film.The best reason to see this film is no doubt beautiful French actress Anicee Alvina, who is obviously no less appealing here at 20 than she was at 17 in the earlier film. Once again, she has plenty of nude scenes (including a flashback) that are each, of course, completely essential to the plot. Far be it from me to complain about THAT, but by this time Alvina had begun to appear in deranged Alain Robbe-Grillet art/porn films and the above-par Italian giallo "Anima Persae", which make just as good of use her, but are also much more worthwhile viewing than this rather saccharine film. And Alvina also didn't have to speak English in those films. Usually, cute French girls with accents are even more sexy, but Alvina seems to speak English only phonetically in both of these movies, and it gets more than a little irritating.I also can't rave about Elton John, who provided the surprising hit song for the first film, but the music in this sequel is much, much worse than even the worst dreck in the Elton John oeuvre. This film is not really a bad film, but it simply has no reason to really exist, no real "raison d'etre" (hey, I think my French is better than Alvina's English). They should probably have just quit while they were ahead. . .

cheftoni55 **Spoilers** I haven't seen this movie in 15 years, and I remember it meaning so much to me, as I was around that age. My head was stuck firmly in the clouds, and I hoped I would find a boy like Paul, just to take me away from my life (well, he seemed quite the nice chap, no?) In any case, saw "Friends" and "Paul et Michelle" once again today (3/17/2004) back to back. I must say, the acting improved (well, at least for Anicee Alvina...Sean Bury was fairly decent in the first movie). Some of the scenes in both movies gave me quite a chuckle...they seemed so forced! But I suppose it is pretty hard to act that depth of emotion when you hardly know one another and having to take your clothes off. Overall, I marvelled at the subject matter...that *puppy love* would be seen as commonplace now.The saddest part of both films is the end, of course, especially in the second one. *SPOILER* You know they will never see each other again. *sigh*I wonder what ever happened to Sean Bury....? Looked all over the net, and came up with nothing.All in all, watching these films was nicely escapist...

moviewatcher2010 I rented "Friends" in the local video store and then learned that a sequel was actually made. No video store carried it so I had to spend $12.00 to find out what happened with Paul and Michelle.My favorite part was their reunion, which fortunately, was not dragged out - when they are alone again, it reminded me of two people having an affair where reality is totally blocked out - you just want them to continue, and you don't want reality to come, but it does in due course. Sylvie, who is now three years old, is a really cute little girl, but just doesn't fit the picture when Paul and Michelle eventually return to the countryside cabin. Reality does come in true form when Paul goes back to college - what really ruined it was seeing him with another girl, considering all the trouble he went through to find Michelle again in the first place.The movie ends with one main question - what the heck happens three years later? They seem to have a love for one another that will undoubtedly draw them together once again.It is worth a look to see what happened with these star-crossed teenage lovers and how they matured physically in appearance. Truthfully, they both got much better looking.

consortpinguin "Paul and Michelle" begins three years after the title characters ended the story of "Friends." Although it is not as good as the original, the film comes together very well. In "Friends," a teen romantic classic, the British Paul and French Michelle ran away and lived together in a secluded romantic dream. In "Paul and Michelle," the couple must face the hardships and boredom of everyday life. They soon learn the responsibility of working for a living and bringing up the child they had in "Friends." In the beginning, Michelle and daughter Sylvie, who was born in "Friends," are living with Gary, a young American businessman in a French coastal town. The three have an almost normal family life in which Sylvie has bonded with Gary.Paul, now a college student, abandons academic life to search for Michelle. When he arrives in town, there is a very funny sequence when Paul keeps searching every street and shop for Michelle, and just keeps missing her every time. At last the two literally bump into each other on the street and embrace in a joyful reunion. The very gracious Gary, always knowing that Paul is the true love of Michelle's life, leaves to let Paul move into the apartment.The main plot of the story is Paul and Michelle's brutal discovery that it is tough to make their romantic love work in the everyday world. Having been raised with wealth, Paul finds the life of a working man difficult as he takes a job as a meatcutter to support his family. Paul and Michelle work jobs in different shifts and take turns watching Sylvie. Their jobs tire them out and raising an active three-year old wears the romance very thin. Paul finds it very hard to bond with his long-lost daughter. Even though she calls him "Daddy," it is a long time until she loves him as much as she loved Gary. The director highlights these realities by inserting a number of flashbacks of "Friends" to contrast with their new life.Paul misses his exciting student life. There is one anachronistic scene where Paul participates in a poor excuse for a 1960's style student riot that is broken up by the police. In a much more dramatic incident, Paul goes out to a bistro with a young woman friend, leaving Sylvie alone in the apartment. As you might guess, it isn't long before the active tyke gets out. When Michelle returns from work to find her daughter gone, and sees Paul outside with this woman, she nearly panics. Paul and Michelle have to chase all over town to rescue their daughter. Michelle is quite angry.I can relate to this story more today than I did in 1974, now that I'm older, married with children, and have been working for a living for many years. "Paul and Michelle" is not the dreamy classic you saw in "Friends," but the movie will entertain you as it portrays the strains of growing up and trying to keep romance alive in the real world.