MovieChat Forums > L'homme qui voulait vivre sa vie (2012) Discussion > Could have been better

Could have been better

posted 11 years ago by waldenpond88
9 replies | jump to latest

We finally had a chance to watch "The Big Picture" which I had ordered from amazon.de for only 3 Euros (used) and it's in French with German subtitles, so I translated the subtitles to my husband.
Compared with the book, the movie follows it closely except of the different ending.
The ending just didn't do it for me, but obviously director Eric Lartigau wanted a different ending.
The actors are all fine, especially Romain Duris.
His wife in the movie/novel is very annoying. She enjoys the freedom to stay at home while her husband is working very hard and she still dares to complain that she lives in a golden cage not realizing how lucky she is that she is not forced to put up with nasty supervisors like so many of us!

What I enjoyed in the bonus material was the interview with Douglas Kennedy (who speaks fluent French!) and Eric Lartigau. Kennedy praises Lartigau's movie adaptation of his novel.

This past weekend we also watched "Pour Elle" (the Russel Crowe thriller "The Next 3 Days" is the remake of French original movie "Pour Elle" with Diane Kruger & Vincent Lindon) and to be honest, we like the remake (by Paul Haggis and with Russell Crowe) a lot better. But at least we have now watched the original!

Compared with the recently watched French thriller "Tell No One" (5 stars), I would rate "Pour Elle" 3 stars and "The Next 3 Days" 5 stars.

[–] mikeyflatley 11 years ago

i didnt like movie endin either but wat wuz book endin?

Werd 2 ur mudda, bruddafcker

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] beastiex 11 years ago

Can not understand the favorable comments,i thought this was a complete waste of time.

[–] azuca-641-953900 11 years ago

I didn´t like this movie either. Some parts were interesting, some were boring. I didn´t like the actor.

[–] bob998 9 years ago

It could have been a lot better. Marina Fois is excellent as the wife (shouldn't we have seen how she copes with her "widowhood"?), and Romain Duris is solid throughout. Niels Arestrup as the drunken editor has several scenes that impress me. But the story is weak; it's just not possible to disappear like that in today's world.

[–] waldenpond88 9 years ago

Hi bob998, I guess it depends on where you are going in order to disappear and if you could survive without credit card, just paying cash, having faked ID's etc. You can live as a hermit in the Rocky Mountains, but what do you do if you need a doctor?

[–] bob998 9 years ago

If you need a doctor: well you do what Mel Gibson did when he played a wounded criminal, you go to a drunk who's been struck off the medical profession. He'll fix you up, and charge you a lot more than the hospital would, and you'll pay gladly because you have no choice.

[–] waldenpond88 9 years ago

That's also what Jason Bourne did (Richard Chamberlain and Denholm Elliott as the drink doc).

[–] waldenpond88 9 years ago

PS: Same goes for the dentist. At some point all of us get trouble with our teeth. Sometimes it drives me nuts that my dentist wants to make x-rays each time I show up. I tell him once a year is fine, but definitely NOT twice a year.
Those tooth x-rays are another way of identifying people...maybe the government requires them?