It’s shockingly humorless and glacially slow for a film featuring a bendy boy genius, an invisible woman, a human torch, and a talking pile of stones.
The Great Man(Le Grand Homme)
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
France · 2014
1h 47m
Director Sarah Leonor
Starring Jérémie Renier, Surho Sugaipov, Ramzan Idiev, Daniel Fassi
Genre Drama
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
Hamilton and Markov, two French Legionnaires in Afghanistan, are ambushed during an unauthorized mission. Despite saving Hamilton’s life, Markov is dishonorably discharged, crushing his dreams of French citizenship for himself and his young son. Both Hamilton and Markov must grapple with their choices in this powerful and intimate drama about war, friendship, and humanity.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Slant Magazine by Diego Semerene
It exploits the military aesthetics that lend themselves so well to breathtaking sounds and visuals without fetishizing them.
The Hollywood Reporter by Jordan Mintzer
With an acute style marked by lengthy tracking shots and crisp natural cinematography from Laurent Desmet (Shall We Kiss?), Leonor manages to convey emotions through purely visual terms.
The New York Times by Manohla Dargis
The filmmaker Sarah Leonor has a keen eye and a gentle, unassuming touch. In The Great Man, she discreetly changes moods and storytelling modes like a pianist sliding her hand down a short, soft glissando.
While Renier embodies his PTSD-afflicted soldier as a man similarly out of sync with his surroundings, his heartfelt performance isn't enough to overshadow the fact that this often incisive look at modern identity confusion and redefinition loses its dramatic momentum long before its finale.
It takes a woman to make a great film about the all-male bastion of the French Foreign Legion. Claire Denis did so in her elliptical desert updating of Herman Melville’s “Billy Budd” in “Beau Travail” (1999), and her fellow French director Sarah Leonor nearly equals that feat in The Great Man.
Users who liked this film also liked
Avatar
When humans invade a distant planet, a man sent to study the indigenous aliens struggles to choose sides.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2009
- Director James Cameron
- Cast Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi
- Genre Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Science Fiction
- Available on Disney Plus, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, AMC on Demand
The First Man
(Le Premier Homme)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Italy, Algeria • 2011
- Director Gianni Amelio
- Cast Jacques Gamblin, Maya Sansa, Catherine Sola, Denis Podalydès, Ulla Baugué, Nicolas Giraud
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Lucy
Most people only use 10% of their brains. She unlocks the full 100% – and the powers that come with it.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Taiwan, Germany • 2014
- Director Luc Besson
- Cast Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Choi Min-sik, Amr Waked, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Pilou Asbæk
- Genre Action, Science Fiction
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, FlixFling, AMC on Demand
Alléluia
A fervidly dark lovesick horror inspired by the real-life criminal duo, the Lonely Hearts Killers.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Belgium, France • 2014
- Director Fabrice Du Welz
- Cast Laurent Lucas, Lola Dueñas, Helena Noguerra, Stéphane Bissot, Édith Le Merdy
- Genre Horror, Drama, Thriller
- Available on OVID, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
Barbie
She’s everything. He’s just Ken.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United States, United Kingdom • 2023
- Director Greta Gerwig
- Cast Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Will Ferrell, Emma Mackey, Issa Rae, America Ferrera
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
A Silent Voice: The Movie
(映画 聲の形
)
A high-school boy seeks forgiveness from the deaf girl he bullied in elementary school.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2016
- Director Naoko Yamada
- Cast Miyu Irino, Saori Hayami, Aoi Yuki, Kensho Ono, Yuki Kaneko, Yui Ishikawa
- Genre Animation, Drama, Romance
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Amazon Video
Wind River
A local tracker teams with an FBI agent to investigate the death of a young woman on a Native American reservation in Wyoming.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United States, United Kingdom, France • 2017
- Director Taylor Sheridan
- Cast Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Gil Birmingham, Kelsey Asbille, Teo Briones, Tantoo Cardinal
- Genre Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand, The Roku Channel
Call Me by Your Name
Is it better to speak or die?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France, Brazil • 2017
- Director Luca Guadagnino
- Cast Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar, Esther Garrel, Victoire Du Bois
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Netflix, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, AMC on Demand
Alita: Battle Angel
An angel falls. A warrior rises.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Canada, Argentina, United States • 2019
- Director Robert Rodriguez
- Cast Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Mahershala Ali, Keean Johnson, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Skrein
- Genre Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
- Available on FXNow, fuboTV, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, AMC on Demand
Uncut Gems
A fast-talking jeweler risks it all to pay off his debts.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- South Africa, United States • 2019
- Director Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie
- Cast Adam Sandler, Julia Fox, Lakeith Stanfield, Idina Menzel, Kevin Garnett, Eric Bogosian
- Genre Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Available on Hoopla, Showtime Apple TV Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
Joker
A failed stand-up comedian is driven insane, turning to a life of crime in chaos in Gotham City.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Canada, United States • 2019
- Director Todd Phillips
- Cast Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Shea Whigham
- Genre Crime, Thriller, Drama
- Available on TNT, TBS, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand