First Hit: An amusing film showing what can happen when a kiss ends up being more than what was initially intended.
I loved the beginning of the film, the happenstance of two people meeting and getting to know each other over an act of kindness, then dinner and then the moment of taking it just one more step – a kiss.
The two strangers played by Michael Cohen and Julie Gayet are interesting and have an immediate onscreen chemistry. I loved his honest, slightly nervous way of creating next steps; giving her a ride to her hotel, asking her out to dinner and asking for a kiss.
Although the audience knows she wants to take him up on his offer for a kiss, she tells him no because of the danger of having one kiss. He is curious and asks her to tell him this story. At this point the film presents this story as the main part of the film.
The story is of Nicholas and Judith who are friends and as friends do they support each other. One day Nicolas asks for some support in the way of physical affection starting with a kiss, and this leads them into a deep and romantic relationship.
However the problem is that Judith is married. Occasionally we get back to the original characters, which, as an audience member, is where my interest laid. I found the story of Nicolas and Judith to be stilted and with little real onscreen chemistry. Their kisses lacked romance and passion which was in contrast to the real time story with Cohen and Gayet.
The overall film is cute and does give the audience lots to think about, but, for me my real interest was with Cohen and Gayet and when they kiss you know you are watching a full, deeply moving, and passionate kiss.
Emmanuel Mouret directed this film, including himself as Nicolas. His relationship with Judith simply lacks the passion required for me to believe their story and the story line. I don’t think Mouret was the right choice for the male lead and maybe with another person the story would have had the impact which was intended.
Overall: Present day scenes with Cohen and Gayet are wonderful, the rest is just so-so, but the story idea is very good and just adequately executed.