the leading man is my tpye

This is How Movies Should Be Made

Boring

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

'Harry. He's Here To Help' is a fable for our times, based on the presumption of Harry, who encounters an old school chum Michel. Harry perceives Michel as needing freedom in order to write. Harry, newly wealthy through the death of his parents, sets out to eliminate the obstacles and problems so Michel can pursue his fictional promise. He kills Michel's parents, who have been a constant drain on his energy, then Michel's brother, who treats his brother's work with contempt. Then Harry kills his own girlfriend because she is attracting and distracting Michel. Harry then goes too far; about to murder the man's wife and kids, Michel retaliates and kills Harry. We are left with the original family unit, and no obstacles to Michel's creative freedom. It is charmingly done, and completely without any conventional morality ending. It is wonderfully absurd, almost a fairytale, and the end is perfect.

Michel (Laurent Lucas) is a dedicated family man riding the responsibilities of modern life as he takes his entourage on a family trip. The seemingly perfect life however has started to show cracks - on a sweltering French summer day his air conditioning is packed in, his three children are wearing his patience to breaking point and his wife's ill-thought scorns and put-downs do nothing to alleviate the strain. Couple this with some overbearing parents and a country retreat which is rapidly turning into a money pit and his problems are beginning to snowball more than he appreciates.Enter Harry (Sergi Lopez) an old acquaintance from school and a memory so distant Michel can barely grasp it. A brief conversation in a rest-stop men's room then outside a few minutes later and Harry is inviting himself and his girlfriend Plum (Sophie Guillemin) to the hideaway, waving away all protest in the spirit of camaraderie. Against better judgment Michel's wife Claire (Mathilde Seigner) rides with the disruptive kids to travel in Harry's super-cooled Mercedes....On their first evening at the barn it's apparent that Michel's vague memory is not matched by Harry's. He quotes verbatim from Michel's old school-rag poetry and recalls perfect detail of his early female conquests. Eyebrows are raised but Michel is not overly disturbed by Harry's unusual demeanour, or his post-orgasmic rituals in the small hours. More concern is the garish fuschia paint that Michel's parents have lovingly adorned the bathroom with, totally disparate to the rusticity of the remaining structure, as well as their impending visit. Harry and Plum seem content to want to idle a few days away with their new-found buddies. First things first though, the family motor is in need of attention after leaving Claire stranded the next day and Harry is a man of solutions - and substantial resources. Car trouble? Here's a new one. Enjoy. And although the cash-strapped couple balk at the generosity, Harry is able to justify his actions in his hope to provide a remedy for their immediate difficulties. Motives soon become a little clearer when Harry expresses disappointment at Michel's abandonment in creative pursuits for want of a family idyll that isn't materialising. He sets about clearing a path for his endeavours, convincing him of his unrealised talent and trying to railroad him back to what Harry sees as his priorities. Harry can see Michel's distractions and recognises they are holding him back at every turn so he sets on a course of solutions once more. He is here to help after all, and if help comprises of dispatching the odd nuisance obstacle, then so be it. What use to Michel (and indeed Harry) is a collection of philistines, dim-wits and bickerers when he could be re-imagining his high school masterpiece 'Les Singes Volantes' ('The Flying Monkeys') and fulfilling years of waylaid promise?'Harry' has been described as a modern day Hitchcock thriller and in many ways this is a justified belief. Darkly comic and edgy, Harry is reminiscent of the calm calculated protagonists from 'Rope' albeit with a cooler exterior. A satisfyingly uneasy entry in modern French cinema.

Another deservedly acclaimed French thriller but, as opposed to the kinetic and twist-laden TELL NO ONE (2006), this is a slow-burn and (relatively) simply-plotted film with, if anything, even more emphasis on characterization. Again, this elicits memories of earlier suspensers – notably Alfred Hitchcock's STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951) and the Stephen King adaptation MISERY (1990), whose narratives are neatly amalgamated here – as we get the title character, a rich wastrel and casual acquaintance of the hero who gradually reveals psychotic tendencies, misguidedly lending a helping hand to sort out the latter's domestic problems while, at the same time, being somewhat obsessed by the young man and resenting in particular his (unconscious) decision to suppress the talent he once possessed as an author! Like the Guillaume Canet film I mentioned earlier, much of the power of the piece emanates from careful casting and, in fact, all four leads (the others being the two protagonists' respective partners, with the hero's wife being played by Mathilde Seigner, sister of Roman Polanski's wife Emmanuelle) deliver good performances. As I said, the film essentially maintains a low-key throughout, even in its moments of violence (with a couple actually occurring off-screen!) so that we get no CAPE FEAR-type melodramatics. The last act is quite interesting as, first, I half-expected the film to turn into a variation on PERFORMANCE (1970) with the villain disappearing for a while and the hero not only picking up some of the former's idiosyncrasies but even takes an active interest in his girl!; then, it almost takes a leaf from Claude Chabrol's LA CEREMONIE (1995) when Harry tries to persuade his 'idol' to get rid of the latter's family for good. However, it finally settles on (effectively) reprising the ironic twist which concludes LA FEMME INFIDELE (1968), a much earlier Chabrol effort (an obvious influence here, that film-maker being officially recognized as "The French Hitchcock"). Though one can fault the movie its slight overlength (116 minutes), an even bigger regret is the fact that the script treats proceedings a little too earnestly rather than approach them as black comedy! On a personal note, the fact that the protagonist here is a 34-year old former writer (I will be that same age in August and have not 'created' anything for the last 8 years!) struck a little too close to home for comfort!

The debut of french director Dominik Moll is a brilliant movie that follows Hitchcock's school of classic suspense to the letter, while keeping the directors own modern style in a psychological thriller reminiscent of David Lynch.Laurent Lucas stars as Michel, father of a middle-class family that goes on vacation to their house in rural France. On a gas station he finds Harry (played by Sergi López), a rich man who went to high school with Michel and that is traveling towards Switzerland with his girlfriend Prune (beautiful Sophie Guillemin). Michel invites Harry to his house, because even when he can't remember who Harry is, it seems as if Harry remembers everything about Michel.The problems of Michel with his parents and his wife Claire (Mathilde Seigner) will come to light as Harry intrusion becomes more apparent and Claire begins to wonder how healthy is Harry's influence over his husband.The story moves at a slow pace building the suspense and the tension between the characters to a maximum. Nevertheless, the direction and the script make sure that this slow rhythm will not become boring or tiresome and the movie works very wheel filled with interesting scenes that give everything you NEED to know about the characters, but not everything you WANT to know about them.This classic take on suspense and mystery, that many have tried with mixed results, works very good here thanks to the wonderful script that adds scenes of bizarre surrealism that while serve the purpose of breaking the suspense, they also increase the tension and mystery surrounding their characters.It's worthy to mention the superb acting of those involved. Lucas, Seigner and López have a good chemistry on screen that clearly helps the movie to be as powerful as it is.By the end of the movie the tension is at it's peak and the script makes the most of it giving a brilliant finale that even when it is very simple it is both mysterious and rewarding.This is not the typical thriller with horror/suspense. It's a modern update to the classic suspense style of film-making that Hitchcock did so well. 8/10