BEFORE: Marion Cotillard carries over from "Allied", and she'll be here tomorrow, too - that was really the only way to work in this nearly "unlinkable" film, with mostly French actors. I guess the lead actor here has been in a few major films, but I have no plans to watch "Red Sparrow" any time soon. And if this is a romance-y type film, maybe it really belongs in February, but again, that's just moving the linking problem to a later date. Better to follow the linking and get this one off the list when I can.
THE PLOT: Put in charge of his young son, Alain leaves Belgium to live with his sister and her husband in Antibes. Alain's bond with Stephanie, a killer whale trainer, grows deeper after Stephanie suffers a horrible accident.
AFTER: When I look back on the last week of films, it's quite the mixed bag of subjects, from pirates to psychos to detectives, superheroes and Nazis (both the true-life life-size ones and the miniature ones made of sausage...). But there is a sort of a thread running many of the films, from pirate swords to tusks to scalpels and even the weapons of the Dora Milaje - so it was a very stabby week, all things considered. But there's another thread that runs through "Tusk", "Get Out" and this film, if you've seen all three you may get what I mean.
This is a relationship story, but one where the relationship between two people gets changed by an accident, one that takes place at French Sea World (or the equivalent) but the exact cause of the accident is unknown, because it sort of happens off-camera. We see a giant Orca jump up on a platform, and I assume he wasn't supposed to be there - but did that lead to a piece of equipment damaging the character's legs, or did her injury come from the bite of an Orca? That wasn't very clear. I'm not saying it should have been depicted on camera, but someone mentioning the exact cause of her injury would have been helpful.
Anyway, Alain has his own problems, from getting frustrated with his precocious son to only finding work as a security guard four nights a week, so for extra money he has to help with some shady security camera installations, and the guy in charge of that turns him on to some amateur MMA-style fights - and you know they're legit because they happen in a dark warehouse or someone's backyard. He does have some talent for this, but finds it difficult to practice because he's always either helping Stephanie swim at the beach, or he's having sex with random floozies.
Yeah, I get it, life throws a bunch of unexpected twists at nearly everyone, and you do what you have to do to make some money and keep yourself sane. But I'm not sure I'm picking up on any life lessons here, assuming that there are any. Don't get involved with a fight club? Don't work with killer whales? Sex is a little freaky with an amputee?
What I did enjoy was thinking about how lucky I've been over the years - sure, I've been sick, from TB to kidney stones and several other things, even had minor surgery, but only on an outpatient basis. I've never spent one night in a hospital bed (I'm knocking on wood here...) and I'm nearly 50 years old. That's a pretty good track record, and I'd like to see how long I can maintain that. Of course, part of the reason I got to where I am is because I don't engage in a lot of high-risk activities, I don't swim in the ocean (sharks, and now orcas, are a concern...) I don't play sports and I don't take drugs recreationally. I also try to refrain from getting into fights or even pissing people off, because you just never know.
Also starring Matthias Schoenaerts (last seen in "The Danish Girl"), Armand Verdure, Corinne Masiero, Celine Sallette, Bouli Lanners, Mourad Frarema, Jean-Michel Correia, Yannick Choirat.
RATING: 4 out of 10 expired yogurts
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