writers_reign Review of Welcome Aboard

Welcome Aboard (2012)

Butterflies Are Free - Well, Would You Believe Reasonable

[8/10 · 9 November 2012]

The first thing to say about this fine movie is that there is absolutely nothing new in the content; as soon as Patrick Chesnais agrees to give a lift to Jeanne Lambert - after approximately ten to fifteen minutes - we know it's only a matter of time before the two wounded birds - one in his sixties, one around fifteen - help each other to fly again. There's a slight resemblance to Philippe Muyl's Le Papillon except there the girl was pre-pubescent but both films are excellent. On the other hand Jean Becker doesn't do mediocre and time and time again - Les Enfants du marais, effroyable jardins - he manages to satisfy our feel-good appetites as he does once again. It's good to see Miou-Miou on this side of the channel once again - though she remains active in France her recent output has been confined to 'domestic' films - albeit the lion's share of screen time is shared between the two leads. I doubt if it will draw flies at the Multiplex but that says more about them than this delightful charmer.