Intimate Strangers (2004)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Just perfect...

Fresh and Exciting

As Good As It Gets

From the first few minutes, I kept turning to my wife and saying, "This whole thing is totally ludicrous. Even for the French." A woman goes to a tax expert, thinking he's her psychiatrist? Twice? And he sits there with this Gene Wilder-like look of paralyzed bafflement the whole time? C'mon. And as they continue to meet, he continues to sit there goggle-eyed and her story gets sillier and sillier. I mean, really. The tons of Hitchcock references are less homage, I think, than a wink-wink, nudge-nudge. At times the humor really breaks out and this rather tedious movie becomes more fun, but they either can't figure out how to sustain it, or the director thought it was funnier than it was, or he just can't make up his mind what he's trying to do. The biggest wink occurs late in the movie when the tax analyst is sitting at home watching what appears to be a Bogart film noir. Well, that's not Bogart's voice, and the dialogue is taken directly from a Woody Allen New Yorker piece, a send-up of Bogart films called "Mr. Big." The Allen piece is very funny -- and I think that's what they wanted this to be.

A stranger walks into your life and you find yourself totally captivated. In the hands of Patrice Leconte this is something worth watching.It is the fourth film of his that I have seen. I watched it mainly for Sandrine Bonnaire, who captivates me as much as she captivated William (Fabrice Luchini).He is an accountant, and she walked into his office by mistake thinking he was a psychiatrist. Even after they admitted they both knew the truth, she kept coming and he kept waiting for her, even shuffling his real clients out the door.A fascinating exchange, full of surprises, and well worth watching again.

Anna (Sandrine Bonnaire) has an appointment with her analyst, doctor Monnier (Michel Duchaussoy) to tell him her sentimental problems. But because of a little talky concierge and dimly lit, somewhat eerie corridors, she lands in William Faber's office (Fabrice Lucchini) who is a financial adviser. Expect the unexpected at least for a short time. Rather than telling her that he's not the right man to talk to, he listens to her very carefully and sets up a second appointment with her. The following week, he reveals her the truth but agrees to see her as many times as she wants to. Anna accepts his offer and these two idiosyncratic characters strike up an ambiguous relationship which will partly unveil their respective personalities, at least for William."Confidences Trop Intimes" is the successor of a peak in Patrice Leconte's eclectic filmography, "l'Homme Du Train" (2002) and if it doesn't exactly match the greatness of this film, it nonetheless remains a true winner which encompasses everything that makes Patrice Leconte a worthwhile filmmaker. First with this original starting point: a woman who was badly directed in a building winds up in an office belonging to a character who is a total stranger to her. But as doctor Monnier says: "there isn't a big difference between a shrink and a financial adviser: they have to define and solve their customers' problems. The difference is that to a financial adviser's his problems are bare while to an analyst's they're hidden".Ambiguity is one of the key words to describe the relationships between William and Anna. Is Anna really in bad terms with her eccentric husband (stout Gilbert Melki)? Doesn't she try to manipulate her partner? Isn't she a little crazy? They're exciting questions that call upon the viewer's imagination. As for William, one realizes that the sort of therapy that links the two characters is mainly destined to him. He's probably THE main character of the whole film. At first, he seems strong but bit by bit he proves that he's a fragile character who yearns to change his life. His unexpected meeting with Anna gives him this opportunity and makes him elated for a while (see the delightful sequence when he dances to "in the Midnight Hour" by Wilson Pickett). But then his real personality appears: he's a rather vulnerable man who has trouble with women and perhaps that's why his wedding with his former wife (Anne Brochet) went unravel. Besides she tells him that he didn't make the first move to meet her.Leconte is well served by his duo of actors and it's a real surprise to discover and appreciate Fabrice Lucchini in an introverted man whereas he is usually typecast in extrovert roles. Sandrine Bonnaire makes an ideal partner. One should also hail the filmmaker for having discerningly chosen the scenery of this idiosyncratic in camera. Dimly lit corridors and rooms are deftly incorporated to the plot and give a sultry sensation to the ambiguous relationship between William and Anne, a strong point that was tapped fifteen years ago in "Monsieur Hire" (1989) when Michel Blanc was alone in his cramped flat. Sandrine Bonnaire was then her partner. So, when the camera goes out into the open air, the interest depletes a little in spite of good moments. While I'm writing about this shortcoming, I could also regret a misunderstanding too quickly solved (the second time when William and Anna meet again, he tells her that he's not the right person) and mention a too much cozy end.But overall, when you have a strongly built story which has a lot of space for surprises and the development of its characters and a lot of food for thought, you can skip without problems conspicuous faults and leave the projection with a big smile on your face. Once again Leconte filled me with joy. Recommended to his aficionados.NB: the film was turned into a play three years later.

A guy with a rather mediocre life opens the door of his office and finds there a woman who mistakes him for a shrink. He has no time to react so he let the woman tell him about her troubles. Anyway they'll find in each other kind of a exhaust valve for their lives.The story in Lceonte's movie gives raise to several reflections: sometimes is easier to tell your deepest secrets to an unknown. There are not misunderstandings, there are not prejudices, there are not emotional walls to overcome. "Confidences" also states that the power of a psychoanalyst is quite debatable.As for the cast, the actors are just nice. Sandrine Bonnaire looks as mysterious as always.*My rate: 7.5/10