Love Me If You Dare

This film reminds the viewer of low budget "Amelie", but without the originality of its model. The characters of the film are as obnoxious, as the games they play. Julien and Sophie deserve one another, but unfortunately, we have to sit through this dud of a movie to realize we've been conned by its director, Yann Samuell. Let's say the end is just great, why didn't it come sooner??? Marion Cotillard and Gillaume Canet are attractive actors, but they deserve a better film. And yes, the playing of "La vie en rose" throughout the film by different artists of different styles is about the only thing worth remembering.

I think the French title sums up this film best, but not in the way it intends. I love romantic crap like this normally, especially offbeat stuff -- but the characters never seem to grow up, they remain children playing children's games. This prevented me from really caring about their eventual joined fate. Especially when the stakes are raised, and the lovers takes on spouses and have children, they never really grow up and these people have no bearing on their infantile love-battle with each other. The fact that these outsiders disappear conveniently when they are not needed in the story shows how shallow the storytelling truly is. Admittedly, a movie I like very much, SHE'S SO LOVELY, features a similar storyline where childish people are separated by time and when they come back together, they throw away everything that has happened in the intervening years just to be together again. The difference is that that film was written with an emphasis on character, not on style, and while it is not wholly successful, it remains a better portrait of l'amour fou than this film.

SPOILER BY WAY OF INTERPRETATION###### Most movies have one thing sinisterly in common with life. Both pretend that while people are good, life is full of bad things that happen to them which sometimes make them do bad things later. This is true, too, of villains. They are always justified by a bad child-hood or society. This movie is not much different. Sophie is abused because of her heritage/race (in French films this is allowed to be a background detail, in an American film they only mention it if that's what the movie's about in the first place, and even then they feel compelled to include a moral lesson about it {basically in order to deny that it is a facet of everyday life}). Julien's loss of his mother is his own motivation. But seriously folks the character's motivations are exactly what this movie is NOT about. They live their lives the way they do, not out of self-defense, but out of love of life. The ending makes perfect sense when viewed from this perspective. Do you dare to live life? Do you have unlimited control of your actions? If you did AND you had someone calling you on it at every point then your life would be as wild and nonsensical as these two fantasy figures. Wuthering Heights? Maybe. Romeo and Juliet? More likely.

Definatelly not the worst film i have ever seen, but nevertheless quite disappointing. It is very frustrating to me when there is a generally good initial idea, interesting actors, and all the tools available to create a good film, and yet the outcome seems to be everything but a well-thought, developed, and honest "work of art"...cinematography is supposed to be an art form, correct? The film is not memorable at all...expect from the ending, and the overused "cap ou pas cap". The script is quite scrappy , the characters underdeveloped, with no adequate explanation as to why the relationship between them is as such. The direction of the film can be characterised as "cute"...but i am becoming less tolerant with films that just try to be "different" from typical Hollywood flicks, with the use of a few pretentious scenes ("oh..the typical Box Office Hit viewer could have NEVER understood that one!!")...and directorial tricks. I do like to think that there are still sincere film-making attempts in THIS century, whether its in Europe or elsewhere..."Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things".

Two children start an odd game of outdoing each other with limitless dares and stunts, but as they grow into adulthood their stunts become more dangerous and life threatening. Soon enough they realize that their continuation of the game had been a desperate attempt to hide the fact that they were meant for each other. Right away this film starts off in a dream like state, giving us the sense that we're really watching a school play put on by 4th graders. The mood is very light and playful and goes along with the child like innocence of Julien and Sophie. As the two characters mature so does the directing (for lack of a better phrasing). No longer do we feel like we are in the dream of a 10 year old. Reality settles in and eventually the mood in the film becomes very dark and almost depressing. I loved everything about this movie: the plot, the actors (and the chemistry between them) but most of all the directing. I liked the way Yann changed the mood in the film to match that of the character's ages. 9/10

It's funny how when it comes to french movies, french people are just so harsh (i'm refering to previous comments about this movie and others)! This one starts really (i mean really) good and, it's true, goes through worse scenes ... but the end ... well I loved it! It sure can be accused to mimic american movies (just listen to the music and the "passing-above" camera moves) but shortly after it really turns ... well ... "french". But it's not a bad thing in my opinion. Talking about the characters, You just can't help thinking "what's with them ?", why are they acting like they do ? I like to think it's because of a tradition in french cinema. Characters have to be twisted and torn apart because of their deep feelings. In the sequence of events, it can be perceived as seemingly weird ... and I have no answer to that ... Yet I appreciated it quite much and I'm looking forward to watching the next Samuell's piece. I rated it 9 out of 10. And i can only tell: watch it!

It is really surprising to see the ratings some movies get. As I write this "Jeux d'enfants" has got a 7.6 on IMDb. I don't get it. The story is obnoxious. I do not really understand why the do what they do. It makes no sense. They seem to be crazy children all their lives. I hate the main characters. I wanted them to die at every chance they had, and there were some.That would have conveniently shortened this awful movie. This movie reminds someone of Amelie? Well, maybe because they speak French too. If you like this movie I do not want to meet you, thanks. I do not understand why IMDb chops my comments and then says I need to write more. It had 10 lines when I wrote it. Now I must seem like a rabid maniac who does not know about paragraphs and full stops...

The first feature from French director Yann Samuell is an "expressionistic" allegory about love, disguised as a romantic fantasy. It is about how in our relationships we never outgrow childhood games or fully recover from the insecurities caused by deep childhood wounds. It is about how people in love constantly test each other. Each dare is a renewed demand for the other person to prove their love, no matter what the sacrifice. "Love Me If You Dare" is a gimmick translation of "Jeux d'enfants", a better translation would be "Games of Children". But given the general confusion about this film by English speaking viewers and critics the inaccurate title is probably appropriate. Film Theory 101 would include a discussion of the two basic film extremes, realism and expressionism. Generally the closer a film comes to reproducing reality, the less room there is for the filmmaker to express his artistry. Which is not to say that realism is necessarily less manipulative than expressionism, both aim to effect their viewing audience, expressionism is just less constrained. When you are used to a steady diet of Hollywood realism, it is difficult to switch gears and watch a film like "Jeux d'enfants" without attempting to force it into the realism mold. The temptation is to gloss over the surreal elements and to take everything you see literally. But Samuell has a background as an illustrator and designer. Note the inventive visuals that employ a multitude of cardboard cutouts and idyllic fantasy settings. This is expressionism. Note the accelerated action segments and strange transitions. This is expressionism. Note the interesting time passage montages and flashbacks. While you sometimes see similar stuff incorporated into a realistic film, it is explained away as a dream, hallucination, or memory. Here it is a tip-off that this is a surreal allegory like Bunuel's "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie". If you avoid taking "Jeux d'enfants" too literally, stop being judgmental about the actions and motivations of its characters, and focus instead on picking up its allegorical elements you will probably understand it better and enjoy it more. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

It will make you gasp, laugh, cry, scream, sing, and love. This is the greatest comedic love story I've ever seen on the silver screen. You will never forget this movie, from its playful beginning to its OMG-what-just-happened ending. For those of you who don't speak French, you do not need subtitles to understand the beauty, the depth, and the tragically hilarious love affair of Julien and Sophie. The movie will take you to every extreme of human emotion and leave you completely breathless with its UNBELIEVABLE ending. I was so entranced by the film that I sat there through the entire end credits, hoping for just a little more. This is a movie you cannot miss...it is one of the greatest films to be made in France. Watch it....I dare you. Are you game or not?