My Way (2012)

I love this movie so much

Pretty Good

Please don't spend money on this.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Jeremie Rénier's performance is a true tour De force ;his portrayal of the late singer is nothing short of exceptional and compares favorably with that of Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf.The problem is that,unlike Piaf ,François can't be seriously considered an artist with a genuine creativity to offer:80% of his songbook are covers :the Everly Bros,the early Beatles,the Angels,John Hartford,Barry McGuire (and Ryan) ,Jackie De Shannon,Tom Paxton,Pete Seger,the four Tops,the Temptations,the Bee Gees ,the Hollies,the Four Seasons ,Georgie Fame,Sonny Curtis and even English traditional ballads such as "Geordie",the list is endless :that's why the movie insists on "Comme D'Habitude" ,the singer's only international claim to fame :translated into English by Paul Anka as "my way",it was covered by Sinatra,Elvis and countless others ;to be honest,one should add that another Clo-Clo song "Parce Que Je T'Aime Mon Infant"was also covered by Elvis.There were more originals in the seventies ,although" Dix-Sept Ans" ,which is heard at the beginning ,is Janis Ian's 1975 smash hit "at seventeen" which remained unknown over here .In the movie ,the singer appears as a selfish ,moody ,unsympathetic,jealous (don't they give the best American songs to Johnny?) character;his relationship with the other singers of the era is passed over in silence (just one hint at Hallyday and "Salut Les Copains " the magazine which was the ye-ye boys and girls bible ;only France GAll appears ,and only because she had a love affair with him circa 1965:the Eurovision Contest phone call is reportedly accurate ,but Gall said that she could not see any likeness between her and the "shrew " of the "Comme D'Habitude" song ,supposedly depicting their breakup .If you were a boy in a sixties ,Clo-Clo is certainly a nice memory (the original American and English songs were mostly unknown here and in his way , Clo-Clo introduced us to them and I was a fan then );but as a adult,you might find this MOR music futile and forgettable .But,I say it again:"hats off to Mr Rénier"

I basically knew nothing about French pop superstar Claude François before seeing this film, apart what he looked like, a couple of his songs and how he died.A talented filmmaker, Florent-Emilio Siri has surrounded himself with a stellar cast and captures dazzling visuals to deliver what ends up being a rather classic, well-made musical biopic that (re)introduces the singing sensation to the 21st century.On the down side, the film sometimes plays like a highlight reel of sorts, seemingly jumping from one flagship scene to the next without taking the time to explain the significance of events unfolding to the unfamiliar viewer, while at the same time jumping over portions of François' life that look like they might have quite some importance.However on the positive, apart from the aforementioned excellence of the actors and the incredible shots scattered throughout the picture, Cloclo also gives an insight into an aspect of the musical industry that is rarely seen on film, which is the "industrial" production of songs, creation as seen through a committee rather than a single artist. Quite fascinating.

I was surprised when I first heard of the film, only in project. Florient Emilio Siri - the director of NID DE GUEPES, HOSTAGE and L'ENNEMI INTIME, the greatest french action film maker of all times - who planned to tell the biopic of the famous Claude François, the fabulous french singer of the seventies. I thought it was a joke. What connection between him and the other films of Siri?I'll be honest; if it had not been him to direct this, I would never have gone to watch it. I loved Cloclo when I was a kid, when I heard his songs while going to vacation with my parents in our 404 Peugeot, or when I watched his appearances at Mariti and Gilbert Carpentier Saturday evenings shows on TV. But I know his story and especially his tragic and idiot ending. Period.But I was curious to see how the hell the great french director, so gifted in action masterpieces, could perform with such a tale...And I was astonished to see that Siri was not only an exceptional action film film maker, but an awesome director above all. And even if this one is not an action movie, this is probably is best feature till now. Some viewers may find this not complete concerning the actual character, the lead - who is played by the terrific Jeremie Régnier, a sort of dead ringer of Cloclo, nothing less. I won't disagree with them. But the way to present this man, the directing, the film making, all this grabs you from the beginning to the end. Siri is really a great director, probably the best the french movie industry had since a while now.Don't forget Bruce Willis wanted him to direct DIE HARD 4...I am hurry to watch his next film.

I have to disagree with the other review. I'm not a fan of Claude François, I'm not a fan of the 70s, yet I loved the movie. And that's because of Jeremy Renier's amazing performance. He's extremely magnetic, doesn't show any of the French (slightly precious and fake-sounding to me) brand of acting. The film isn't perfect and the script, certainly, would've deserved some work. It's rather descriptive and chronological. Yet I enjoyed every 158 minutes of it and that's what matters. Renier is AMAZING, so is the production design by the way. I would definitely recommend it to people who don't care about Claude François. If only because he's the guy who wrote one of the most famous songs in the world, which most people would attribute to Sinatra: My Way.