I saw Love Me If You Dare (2004) a few weeks ago in Evanston.
My friend wondered why French actors seemed more real in movies…..it was a hell of statement about a film that took us into the imagination of a little boy on a merry-go-around fantasy with his mother and the Polish-French girl of his dreams. But I can see her point. Guillaume Canet and
Marion Cotillard are wonderful in this film and totally believable as a dysfunctional couple obsessed with a game of dares…..
The trailer is a bit misleading because it goofs-up the “outrageous” game….it more than slapstick comedy….Julien and Sophie are so committed to this game that they put their lives and hearts on the line to prove they’re “game”.
The ending…well…I don’t want to give away too much. I am biased towards happy endings. I was pissed about the ending for Brazil….this film hit me up with the same reaction….but after further reflection, I understood that neither Julien or Sophie would be satisfied with an ordinary life….that the game would drive them over the edge….someone would get hurt…..So, it was better to freeze their love in one perfect, romantic and tragic moment.
Overall, a great story. It swept me up in the romance and the passion – the actors and the music played beautifully together….It twisted my gut in the end, letting “La Vie En Rose” whisper hauntingly as the screen went dark.