Film Reviews

Little White Lies

• Rating:
• Director: Guillaume Canet
• Starring: Francois Cluzet
• Details: France / 154mins (16).

Ah, those little white lies we tell each other and ourselves. Bringing to mind the likes of The Big Chill and Peter's Friends, Little White Lies may be amiable and charming but at over two-and-a-half hours (what is it with overlong movies these days?) it takes too long in getting down to business and then outstays its welcome.
Wealthy restaurant owner Max (Cluzet) and his eco-friendly wife Véro (Valérie Bonneton) invite a small circle of friends to their seaside house every year for a holiday. This year, however, is different as one friend Ludo (Jean Dujardin) was knocked down on his scooter. It's touch-and-go and the doctor's aren't sure if he'll make it. The friends debate about postponing the holiday until Ludo is back on his feet but decide to go anyway. Over the course of the weekend, their selfishness, surliness, and true feelings for each other will surface...
Little White Lies opens with an inventive one-shot sequence that sees Ludo barge his way around a nightclub with a nose-full of cocaine. He thinks better of staying, goes outside, hops on his scooter and takes to the streets. As Guillaume Canet's (Tell No One) camera follows him, a truck flashes by knocking him off his scooter. It's an impressive shot that runs over four minutes and ends in this unexpected and shocking climax. That's as inventive as Little White Lies gets, it doesn't get that inventive again, but in its place is Canet's invitation to take a small, relaxing break with good-looking and entertaining people. There's worse things you can do.
There's little in the way of plot to be had but the characters are so well written it sometimes feel like you're actually in the company of these close-knit friends, who act like they're friends. There's fun to be had: Laurent Lafitte's obsession with his ex-girlfriend's texts - a preoccupation that leads him to crash a boat in the movie's funniest scene - is entertaining, as is watching Max slowly lose it over the course of the break. The soundtrack of (mostly) 60s hits is a belter too.
However, while Canet resists the temptation to go Hollywood with his numerous romantic plot strands, he gives in towards the close with the last half hour awash with Cameron Crowe-esque 'movie moments'. This capitulation belies the realistic, laid-back atmosphere that went before and although these movie moments are nice to watch they belong to a different movie. That lengthy running time, though, renders the movie far too baggy, with most of the 'action' taking place towards the close it leaves nothing for the cast to do but sit about sipping wine and taking boat trips.

Review by Gavin Burke