Beautifully-filmed though extremely slight movie about a soundtrack composer (played by Jean-Paul Belmondo) and his love affair with an attractive actress (Annie Girardot) who is already married. Esteemed French director Claude Lelouch always seems to know just where to put his roving camera. Coming up with several amazing set-pieces and artistically delicious shots, the filmmaker tantalizes the viewer with eye candy, however his flights-of-fancy in general are rather juvenile--they dilute what's happening in the "real world". Another handicap is the screenplay, with central characters who aren't terribly interesting. Still, what a treat to find young Farrah Fawcett in the cast (as a foxy blonde starlet). Filmed in both French and English, with fascinating location work all over the American Southwest. ** from ****
7 Reviews
Another reminder why it's OK to like Lelouch
adrean-819-33909818 December 2010
This is a visually stunning road movie. An actor and a composer commence a trip across America, unplanned and on the whim. Interesting dynamic between the two leads, both very successful and confident in their own skins, they finally both meet their match and a romance starts. As with the genre of the road movie eventually it falls apart and both return to their respective realities.
Full of comedy that works, for example the scene where they are pulled over by the police. Even the flights of fancy, when Belmondo becomes an Indian, work very well. Some very interesting reminders of what was acceptable back in the late 60's (the scene in the vegas casino).
Lelouch has been targeted by the critics notably in France. It's unexplainable for me. There are those among the French critics who are extra hard on their own directors and Lelouch having an unmistakable style which often defies the school of thought and also having a career over 40 years is obviously an easy target.
Full of comedy that works, for example the scene where they are pulled over by the police. Even the flights of fancy, when Belmondo becomes an Indian, work very well. Some very interesting reminders of what was acceptable back in the late 60's (the scene in the vegas casino).
Lelouch has been targeted by the critics notably in France. It's unexplainable for me. There are those among the French critics who are extra hard on their own directors and Lelouch having an unmistakable style which often defies the school of thought and also having a career over 40 years is obviously an easy target.
Another man,another woman
dbdumonteil7 February 2007
Claude Lelouch has made documentaries: "Loin du Vietnam" was a short in a film made up of sequences by different directors including Agnès Varda;"13 jours en France" was a reporton the Olympic Games of Grenoble 1968 "filmed with virtuosity but without feeling "(Claude Bouliq Mercier).
"Un homme qui me plait" ,although it has a plot -a love affair between two married people (with two generally nice actors:Belmondo and Annie Girardot)who both work on a film and who combine business with pleasure - does not amount to much.I've got the impression that Lelouch was more interested in the U.S.A. than in his tepid trite story.
Belmondo tells it all in one of his lines:"Why make such a film? Rich people in beautiful cars staying in luxury hotels ,who cares?"Pretty smart on his part!
"Un homme qui me plait" ,although it has a plot -a love affair between two married people (with two generally nice actors:Belmondo and Annie Girardot)who both work on a film and who combine business with pleasure - does not amount to much.I've got the impression that Lelouch was more interested in the U.S.A. than in his tepid trite story.
Belmondo tells it all in one of his lines:"Why make such a film? Rich people in beautiful cars staying in luxury hotels ,who cares?"Pretty smart on his part!
A beautiful film
zetes21 July 2001
This unknown film is a real gem. I wasn't expecting much, since Claude Lelouch has kind of a weak reputation (I do love his version of Les Miserables, though), but, I figured that Jean-Paul Belmondo is always reason enough to see a film. Definitely, he pushes it far beyond what it could have been otherwise, but also helping him is the wonderful performance of Annie Girardot, an actress about whom I know not a thing, and the great but modest direction of Lelouch. The film begins as if it were going to be one of those run-of-the-mill French dramas where married people cheat on each other. After a while, though the two new lovers go on a cross-country trip from L.A. to NYC (although they don't quite make it there in their rented car). What I would compare this film most to is Linklater's Before Sunrise. I give the film an 8/10.
Iconic French Nouvelle Vague
doria-avocat17 June 2018
When two of the greatest French actors of the 60's 70's area meet before Claude Lelouch's eyes, you can experience one of these unique love stories that breaks your heart. Belmondo embodies the French "nouvel vague" and no one will resist Girardot's look and smile through the American landscape of the late sixties.
Worth it for a number of things ...
av_m23 June 2023
OK, let's get this out of the way - it's dubbed in English and the dubbing is awful - they even dubbed the Americans like Farah Fawcett! Lol, preposterous ...
But, getting past that, the film is quite engaging - the narrative does some nifty intriguing switcheroos in a "play within a play" sort of way that makes you have to pay attention just when you think you've got the story line nailed down - so that's fun.
But the real fun is an iconic - on film, not video - romp across the USA from LA to NY via the Grand Canyon and The Big Easy. Some absolutely fabulous scenes which I won't spoil but you'll know them when you see them.
So, all in all, it's a 1960's era French director filming in America without being burdonsomely snide, which is quite the filmic cocktail in and of itself.
Enjoy!
But, getting past that, the film is quite engaging - the narrative does some nifty intriguing switcheroos in a "play within a play" sort of way that makes you have to pay attention just when you think you've got the story line nailed down - so that's fun.
But the real fun is an iconic - on film, not video - romp across the USA from LA to NY via the Grand Canyon and The Big Easy. Some absolutely fabulous scenes which I won't spoil but you'll know them when you see them.
So, all in all, it's a 1960's era French director filming in America without being burdonsomely snide, which is quite the filmic cocktail in and of itself.
Enjoy!
More eccentrically ambitious and personal than Lelouch's reputation often acknowledges
philosopherjack29 December 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Even at their sappiest, Claude Lelouch's films are usually more eccentrically ambitious and personal than his reputation often acknowledges; the 1969 Love is a Funny Thing is no exception. Henri (Jean-Paul Belmondo) and Francoise (Annie Girardot) are both working on the same American-shot movie, as composer and actress respectively; they hook up and take off on an improvised road trip, with the film intriguingly eliding both the details of the initial seduction and most of the key decision points thereafter, concentrating instead on momentary experience and engagement. This allows a quasi-pre-Herzogian cavalcade of American oddities, including a Western shoot-out enactment (Lelouch thoughtfully lets the scene run long enough for each participant to be acknowledged and to take a bow), the ability to walk into a gun store and make a purchase using travelers cheques, and the all-round kookiness of Las Vegas (where the food may be lousy, but at least there's a trapeze act to distract you from it, or failing that, Pat Boone with special guests Sonny and Cher). The two return to Europe and to their spouses with the idea of meeting up again later, but their connection was all too obviously dependent on a particular set of circumstances, and the film ends in absence and separation (the original title, Un homme qui me plait, better reflects that the story belongs more to her than to him). It's a shame that a viewer is most likely to encounter the film in a dubbed English version which flattens the sense of language and broader cultural differences (although the person who dubs Girardot does so with some delicacy, reflecting the actress's reticent presence), but it's still worthwhile viewing, with the bonus of a very young Farrah Fawcett, cast in the early scenes in a miserable have-I-got-a-girl-for-you role, at the mercy of Belmondo at his most offputtingly leering and predatory.
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