My Favorite Nightmare

Her life seems like the picture of a perfect family: Agathe (Isabelle Huppert), a successful boss at a modern art gallery, lives with publisher François (André Dussollier) and their shared son Adrien (Donatien Suner) in a smart apartment in a prime location. But underneath the façade, the picture looks very different: while Adrien is a complete failure at school, bossy Agathe and bored François just live side by side. Feelings, sex, passion, all that seems to no longer exist in this relationship. One day, chaotic bon vivant Patrick (Benoit Poelvoorde), the single father of Adrien's classmate Tony (Corentin Devroey), crashes into this grey life with full force. With his direct, boorish manner, he constantly antagonizes Agathe in particular. The two boys' friendship also causes their parents' lives to intermingle - and that has unexpected consequences.

My Favorite Nightmare is the latest comedy from Anne Fontaine (Coco Chanel - The Beginning of a Passion, The Girl from Monaco), with great leads juxtaposed against a not-always-successful production. Isabelle Huppert is simply magnificent as an emotional block of ice. When she freaks out in her gallery because the walls aren't black enough for her and the visitors could sense the white behind them, when she is driven closer and closer to the edge of a nervous breakdown in the presence of Patrick, but still strives to keep her composure, the audience can have a delicious laugh about it. The best laughs, however, are on the side of Benoit Poelvoorde (Nothing to declare). Here, two such contrasting worlds collide that it is simply a great pleasure. When Patrick, in the almost sterile ambience of Agathe and François' apartment, expresses his preference for busty ruby ladies or never misses an opportunity to have a drink - or two - the film unleashes its full comedic power.

Thanks to the good timing of the leads and their fine interplay, the film works even in the moments when the direction falters. For one thing, Fontaine gets bogged down in rather unnecessary asides, especially towards the end, instead of really pushing the story forward. On the other hand, the staging sometimes seems a bit overdone. But the story wouldn't have needed that at all because of the inherently amusing constellation of the protagonists, which is why then also the somewhat more exaggerated gags are rather disturbing.

But fortunately, the positive and genuinely funny moments predominate. Surely, from the basic idea could have been made a lot more in the end. That the whole thing threatens to get a bit out of hand towards the end is a real pity. But the performance of the two main actors alone - and the supporting actors like André Dussollier and Virgine Efria as the tree-loving lady from the social welfare office shouldn't be forgotten either - is enough to overlook some minor flaws. If you like French comedies of the more offbeat kind, you'll definitely have fun here. Worth seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp