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France · 2010
2h 34m
Director Guillaume Canet
Starring François Cluzet, Marion Cotillard, Benoît Magimel, Gilles Lellouche
Genre Comedy, Drama
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Despite a traumatic event, a group of friends decide to go ahead with their annual beach vacation. But their convictions and friendship are sorely tested as they deal with secret attractions and failing romantic relationships. Ultimately, they are forced to own up to the little white lies they've been telling each other.
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It's overlong, but with its gorgeous cast, irreverent humour and beautifully drawn characters, this smart comedy-drama is the kind of movie Couples Retreat and Grown Ups should have been. Please, nobody let Adam Sandler anywhere near a remake.
When Canet isn't dabbling in schmaltz, he's forcing text-message gags and metaphor-heavy vermin jokes down viewers' throats in a lame attempt at levity. Emotional fraudulence does indeed constitute a lie, just not a white one.
With its bloated running time and tonal shifts, the story tends to steer off course, though strong performances help keep it in tow.
Slant Magazine by Joseph Jon Lanthier
The specific narrative handicaps throughout are mostly too banal to warrant exegesis, though the choice of vintage pop tunes for dramatic underscoring is particularly grating.
The Playlist by Kevin Jagernauth
It's no surprise the film became a box office sensation in its native France; the characters are a delight to know and the whole movie goes down easy like a cold glass of Chardonnay on a warm summer evening.
Village Voice by Melissa Anderson
Of sole interest is Benoît Magimel's Vincent, who sheepishly confesses a same-sex attraction to one in the cabal; his moments on-screen provide the only break from this slog.
The Hollywood Reporter by Michael Rechtshaffen
Thanks to a sparkling ensemble headed by Francois Cluzet and Marion Cotillard, the familiar backdrop still provides ample opportunity for audience pleasing in Guillaume Canet's nicely observed dramatic comedy.
Populist fare from across the channel that will amply repay those ready to put the time in. The scenery, meanwhile, makes you want to run out and buy a timeshare.
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Rick Groen
In what's meant to be a French take on "The Big Chill" - comedy meets pathos as friends gather at a country house in the wake of a tragedy - writer-director Guillaume Canet has wrought a meandering script that exercises everything except restraint.
Little White Lies unspools as glossy, high-grade tosh, a sun-dappled Big Chill, without the rigour or insight required to make you care about these people and wonder which bed they will eventually wind up in.
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