Irreplaceable (Medecin de champagne)

 Doctors make the worst patients. Doctor turned film director/screenwriter Thomas Lilti must agree with this statement as his latest feature film Irreplaceable (Medecin de champagne) (2016), which got its UK Premiere at the 2016's Edinburgh International Film Festival, deals with just that subject.

Jean-Pierre Werner is a very poplar middle-aged doctor who has dedicated his working life to looking after the health of the local populous. When he is diagnosed with a life threatening illness the Health Authority sends an ex nurse who had recently qualified as a doctor to assist Jean-Pierre who believes that without him everyone in the village will die - in fact he thinks he is irreplaceable. At first this highly experienced local practitioner has little time for the inexperienced Nathalie Delezia but realises that if he does die someone will have be trained to take his place!

This is an exceptionally good French movie, full of great characters all perfectly formed and cast. The movie underlines the serious problem of the shortage of doctors and those embedded in their local rural practices having to work 24/7, generally without any support, even so the movie is still an amusing and enjoyable watch. The two stars of the film are the French actor with the great smile Francois Cluzet who plays Werner with the lovely Marianne Denicourt as his long-suffering assistant both of which give great performances gradually building an on screen relationship that is totally believable. Award winning film and theatre actor Cluzet is probable best known for his roles in Tell No One (2006), Little White Lies (2010) and The Intouchables in 2011.

Little White Lies

The Cast.

Ludo (Jean Dujardin) leaves a Parisian nightclub on his moped just as daybreaks; he has a sudden horrendous collision with a speeding truck that jumps the traffic lights. While he fights for his life in hospital his group of friends decide to go on their usual summer holidays to Cap Ferret, west of Bordeaux, leaving him totally on his own with his horrific injuries. The group consists of the rich business man and hotelier Max (Francois Cluzet) and his wife Veronique (Valerie Bonneton) who own the large holiday home which plays host each year to this group of so called friends including Marie (Marion Cotillard), Eric (Gilles Lellouche) and Antoine (Laurent Lafitte), husband and wife Vincent (Benoit Magimel) and Isobel (Pascale Arbillot) and there young son.

French poster.

This comedy-drama Little White Lies (2010) was written and directed by Guillaume Canet, best known for the 2006 award winning French thriller Tell No One and reveals secrets and hang-ups between a group of friends from the directors own generation who not only lie to each other but to themselves which is an attempt to cover the truth about their rather pitiful mundane lives. Their regular holidays together are a microcosm of their normal existence and Canet succeeds in making this group of obnoxious people into quite engaging characters. The musical soundtrack is an integral part of the movie helping to create strong visual images and helping to stir the imagination. A slightly overlong reunion movie similar in vain to Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train (1998) A Christmas Tale (2008) and The Barbarian Invasions (2003) not quite up to their high standard, but still worth a look all the same.