French Twist

Overall, this move had some laughs, but its premise was absurd and by the end of the film I detested everyone of these characters. They were just so selfish! As Helen Lovejoy says: "Will someone please think of the children!"


A surprisingly good and funny film...   July 25, 2001
xkalybr (West Coast)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful

I've seen this film a few times now. Each time I see it, I show it to a friend who hasn't seen it. They all loved it. Makes me like it that much more when I see them enjoying it.

"French Twist" is about a cheating husband has to deal with the fact that his neglected wife has found another love interest... a woman. That he cheats on his wife on a regular basis is not the issue, to him. His ego and pride being stepped on by the whole situation is the problem and it makes for some very funny material.

The three main characters (Josiane Balasko, Victoria Abril and Alain Chabat) work extremely well together. Just bouncing lines off one another and interacting beautifully. Just when it looks like all will work out another element is added to stir the fire.

The film was written and directed by Balasko who also stars as the "other" woman who's looking for love and destroying a home. Or is she? Chabat is amazingly funny as the philandering husband and Abril is also very good and quite beautiful as the passionate, yet somewhat confused wife.

Check it out for yourself. Don't let the subtitles hold you back. It doesn't take away from the film at all. Get ready to laugh.


Even a cinnamon twist is not this good!   September 19, 2003
SandyWells (Galveston, TX United States)
12 out of 15 found this review helpful

I had no idea what I was getting into when I got this movie. As a huge foreign film buff there I was taking a gander at this movie and realizing the script was totally hilarious.

Basically it focuses on this married couple who have two children, a French family. And of course, the man, not wanting to offend all of the women he's ever met, sleeps with them all. (Side note, it is actually a compliment when men make passes in France, it is offensive to not do it, it means the female is not worth trying with; interesting huh?)

Anyway, hubby cheats, the devoted wife finds that a dyke passerby can fix things, be there for her, and even have dinner.

A steamy romance ensues with the wife and her new woman and the cheating hubby does not take it to well.

You will laugh your ass off in this movie! I don't want to spoil it, but suffice it to say, I bet the script writer has had a very interesting marriage!


A Barrel of (Laughs)?   January 15, 2001
Eric Anderson (London, United Kingdom)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

I remember this film mainly as a comedy, but when I went to watch it again I was amazed by the serious issues it raised. Genre pieces today seem to stay comfortably in their own domain. Comedy is usually nothing but funny and action films are usually nothing but skilful computer effects. There is a tremendous amount of crying going on in this film that isn't comic, but a real portrayal of the complex arrangement of desire and its negative effects. This is especially so because of the children involved and you have to wonder that if it were real life would it all end so happily. In any case, I find myself now remembering it as funny again because any situation where a pig-headed man gets humiliated will always be funny. Victoria Abril is simply sexy and the juxtaposition of her with the charismatic Josiane Balasko is simply a hoot. It is also good to see issues of homosexuality portrayed in a slightly more humorous manner than hard dramas that end in tragedy and doesn't compromise the character's to a mere comedy of campness at the same time. It is a very entertaining film that you will enjoy though you may not remember the emotional impact it had on you correctly.


A charming, sophisticated and hilarious comedy!   May 27, 1999
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

This is definitely one of the funniest, sexiest films I've seen in the last year. It's also sharp and thought-provoking, challenging trite notions about the nature of sexual orientation, love and so-called "family values." Perhaps that's why some of the other viewers disliked it intensely. Josiane Balasko is charming, sexy and competely believable in one of the best portrayals of a butch lesbian on film. She and Abril are wonderful together -- both hot and tender. This film is emphatically not about a family being ripped apart, but about a self-centered philanderer's discovery of the true nature of love and his subsequent metamorphosis as he (Chabat) and his wife (Abril) struggle to construct a new, more satisfying type of family. Of course, this process is not easy for anyone, and the film eschews facile, Hollywood-style endings. Still, this is a fantasy, not necessarily a model for behavior -- "good to think," as Levi-Strauss believed all cultural productions are, and as enchanting as a folktale. Highly recommended!