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

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Two theoretically "incompatible" ( incompatible according to present-day western standards ) people are thrown together by one of the vicissitudes of life and end up loving each other wholly and purely until nature itself throws a devastating spanner into the works !I was extremely moved by this film. It is a sort of "Love Story" but set in present times. A young and good-looking medical student ( who had up till then been a real womanizer ) has a car accident with a plumpish and not too good-looking girl. They have to meet up again to exchange insurance contracts etc. This is just the premise for an incredible love story to which both of the protagonists' families are opposed, in the case of the girl's parents because they are very rich and think the boy is just after their daughter for her money,and the boy's family because the girl has a much higher social standing than their son. In spite of this the love grows stronger every day until the fateful conclusion. I preferred this to Love Story and there was none of the bad language and boorishness on the part of that film which somewhat spoiled it.This boy and this girl are just simply in love and they make the most of it, there are no effects of style and no-one's trying to make a political point, be rebellious or anything like that.This film is extremely realistic and the fact of seeing this boy and this girl attracted to each other against all social conventions and in spite of considerable supposed "physical incompatibilites" is an immense source of pleasure and emotion. It is difficult to describle in writing but there you have it before your eyes.If you are feeling lonely or think that there is no-one in the world who can love you, you need very much to watch this film, when you fall on the right person, it's as easy as pie and everything fits together. That said, the end of the film is very difficult to bear, especially all those scenes of kite-flying on the beach - and the clear message as I understand it is to make the most of every second of happiness you are spending in the company of someone you love.The film has been shown on French TV under the title "Au-delà des Apparences" ( Looking beyond appearances )Only the most heartless and bitter people in the world can fail to be moved by this film !