Reviews

I was ready to enjoy this movie after I read all the positive comments about it. I was disappointed. So many French movies are much better than this one. About the ending: Johnny Halliday turns down the money that Rochefort is offering him, because no matter what, he is and remains a gangster (his destiny) even though he would have loved to live the quiet life of the teacher, but one cannot change who and what we are. Same thing for Rochefort, he dreams of being a gangster, enjoying shooting with Halliday's gun, but he too cannot escape who he is, and, being a law-abiding citizen, he tips the police before he goes for his operation. Their actions are beyond their control.

The "6th sense" it's NOT. What an incredibly stupid, pretentious, pompous, full of itself and boring movie that was. I wanted to see it when it was just released but my wife refused saying that a lot people told her it was a bad movie. Well, they were right. So why the 7.2 rating on imdb??? I convinced my wife that we should give it a try, we watched the whole film, always expecting that it would get better. It didn't. I should have read the reviews here before, and not bebielve Ebert who gave it 4 stars...

I heard and read so many good things about this movie, that perhaps my expectations were too high. David Lynch Mulholland Dr. it's not! It's a rather predictable story, not difficult at all to follow like so many reviewers have warned us, full of cliches (the redneck teacher versus the "liberal" one who gets fired by an unimaginative principal, you see the type...). It's basically a teenager movie, with teenage-style bubble gum philosophy. It is well filmed, has a nice atmosphere, but everything is telegraphed from the start. The characters development also suffers from a simplistic black and white view of the world. Not a waste of time, but not a great movie either. 6* out of 10

The scene at the end where Elizondo humiliates the character played by Raquel Welch (Hortensia) is an insult to women. This is an ugly and mean-spirited male-chauvinist-pig movie masquarading as a "liberated" comedy. I hope it doesn't reflect the hispano-american values, although I have to admit that the food looked mightily appetizing. But can I trust what I see or will it leave a bad after taste just like the movie itself???

There are 2 versions of this film. The short one, and the long one (like 4hrs long). My wife rented the long version. She did watch the entire movie without falling asleep. You guessed it, I did fall asleep. It's not a bad movie, it has a nice atmosphere, I loved the sun and the light of the "Midi" where I come from, I loved seeing Jane Birkin, with her cute English accent, without Gainsbourgh (Serge that is...). As I was falling asleep I could hear Michel Piccoli painting, and painting and painting. I have heard of watching the paint dry, but hearing it was a new experience.

I can't believe they actually still make such idiotic movies. The characters are like cartoon characters, the plot is that of a comic book, the dialogues must have been written by someone under 10 years old. I watched the whole stupid thing because I am cheap and I paid 2 bucks to rent that crap. I wish I had turned it off after the first 5 minutes (that's how fast you know that this will be a true turkey...) STAY AWAY FROM IT !!!!

Is this Lasse Halstrom (orthography?) bad or what? I thought that "Cider house rules" was boring, but I was surprised to see that "chocolat" is even worse. First, is that supposed to be France? I am French and I come from Montpellier and I know the department of the "Tarn" and this sure doesn't look like it. It looks like northern France or even England but not like the south west. And why is it that we French people speak with an accent in american movie, is the american viewer too stupid to understand that they are in fact speaking in french? (en francais dans le texte) so why not let everybody speak english normally please... Furthermore, in 1959, almost half of the french population was communist. Where did they find a village in Tarn without a communist mayor in 1959? Have they heard of the french revolution? You know when we cut the heads off nobles like the Conte, and killed all our priests. This is the way Americans WANT to see France, not the way it was or is. The plot is so childish and predictable it's depressing. They even get the "Gitans" showing the stupid villagers how to enjoy life. Actually they weren't Gypsies but "River people". I have never heard of them before. It must have been an invention of the director, or they got confused with Ireland ? This was a very very long movie, my back was sore from the cheap seat, but my wife LOVED it, so guys be prepared to be bored but your "nenettes" will love this insipid film and they'll be sweet to you back at home.

For a guy who was a French communist until the age of 35, it was a hard movie to take, but it is a superb film, well acted and very realistic. My father was a french communist (the heart on the left and the wallet on the right) and he actually contempleted emigrating to the motherland of socialism when I was a kid, thank God, his wallet was heavier than his heart... Go to your video store and rent it, you won't regret it !

I never went to see this movie growing up in France, mostly because my parents loved it. I might not have loved it then (I was 15 years old) but I sure loved it now. So if there are any other French guys out there who haven't seen it, go rent it and be surprised and proud of at least one French musical.

Not much happens in this movie,yet I felt compelled to watch the whole thing. There is a real atmosphere to it, nice photography, great music and great silences. I wish there was a story and that could have been a great movie.