Le grand rôle (2004) User Reviews

Good subject and script, but they missed it!

[jytou · 5/10 · 16 October 2004]

After all, the movie itself is not that bad, I mean that the story is good, the subject is good and there is something to think about when you leave the theater.

But they missed it.

The first half is boring and the actors are bad (except for Mrs Bejo who really does a good job throughout the whole film), you don't feel the subject at all. Just like a bad TV movie.

The second half is a bit better, but it still does not make it a good film.

About the actors, I found them bad apart from a few exceptions. François Berléand is a good actor and didn't deceive me, but he doesn't appear a lot. As I said, Mrs Bejo does a great job, maybe she saves the film from being *really* bad. Except for the "Yiddish scene" (yes, he's still a good actor for sure when he makes an effort ;-) ), I found Stephane Freiss pathetic, and it disappointed me. Fortunately, Peter Coyote gives us a nice scene full of emotions in the last minutes of the film, but it can't save the whole film.

Too bad, I'm disappointed there because they could have made it a lot better.

A big disappointment, this movie promises much but delivers little!

[JohnHowardReid · 4/10 · 30 October 2011]

SYNOPSIS: Maurice Kurtz is 35 years old. He and his five friends are actors who are getting nowhere fast, even though Maurice tries to look like a successful professional by keeping his face consistently unshaven, hippie style. Maurice is married to a really lovely girl who is working as a model and presumably bankrolling their joint expenses. Alas, Maurice's world comes tumbling down when the super-beautiful Perla tells him she has cancer and will have to relinquish her career. Maurice has one out: An American impresario has come to Paris to cast a Yiddish version of "The Merchant of Venice" of all plays, and is allegedly looking for a Yiddish-speaking actor to play Shylock. Maurice certainly qualifies on the Yiddish part, but a Shylock he is not!

COMMENT: This disappointing take on actors and acting, admittedly enlivened by Peter Coyote's fine performance, is weighed down by Steve Suissa's rigorously routine TV-style direction. Count up how many close-ups Friess receives, no matter how dull his dialogue or unimportant his reactions. I stopped counting when I got to fifty. As Henry Hathaway once told me, if you squander close-ups away on trivial material, you won't have any left when you really need them. The script held out some promise, but through over-writing, it gradually undermines its own credibility, even without Suissa's heavy, directorial hand. There are certainly moments in the movie (the early scenes with Bejo, the later scene with Rufus and just about all the footage with Coyote) when it comes to life, but despite the ironic situations imposed by the screenplay, the end result is tedious rather than engaging.

An Amusing French Jewish Update of O. Henry's "The Last Leaf"

[noralee · 8/10 · 30 May 2005]

"Le Grand Rôle" is an amusing updated French Jewish take on O. Henry's "The Last Leaf." Based on a book by Daniel Goldenberg that doesn't appear to be available in English, it gently pokes fun at just about everything it touches, including actors, theaters, directors, and religious, ethnic and generational divisions within the Jewish community.

It sets as a satirical premise the notion that Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice" is the problem and opportunity for Jewish actors that "Othello" is for black actors, with references as well to Ronald Colman in "A Double Life" and the Al Pacino adaptation that must have been in production at the same time as this film.

In a droll satire of Steven Spielberg exploring his Jewish identity through "Schindler's List," Peter Coyote plays a big Hollywood director who comes to Paris to direct a Yiddish version of "Merchant" (scenes with him are mostly in English), setting off more than a frisson of hope and anxiety among a close group of unemployed Jewish actor friends as they position themselves for the role, including amusing efforts to gain credibility with the director in and out of the humiliating auditions, such as politicking at temple services most don't otherwise attend and searching out elderly relatives for Yiddish lessons. Their comfort with each other amidst their diversity is also unusual in films with Jewish characters, as they range from married with children, to divorced, to a womanizer, one is observant, another passionately Sephardic who insists that an authentic production of "Merchant" should be in Ladino (the Judeo-Iberic language of Jews who fled Spain).

But the humor is centered by one of the most unusual sights ever in films - an attractive, young Jewish married couple's stable, loving relationship. Their devotion puts the actors' egos into poignant perspective as the marriage is tested by the ultimate challenge, showing that even the most self-centered seeming people can have a heart in the face of personal tragedy.

Stéphane Freiss as the husband can move from funny to sad sack to poignant on a dime. Bérénice Bejo as his wife creates a real, intelligent woman to care about; I was particularly impressed that she found the only copy in Paris of the play in Yiddish.

The English subtitles are inadequate and it is particularly frustrating as none of the pop songs on the soundtrack are translated as they seem to have some significance in commenting on the story, particularly at the end.

A refreshing antidote to Hollywood

[davidkaori · 9/10 · 2 October 2005]

"Le grand rôle" effectively dramatizes a simple and elegant premise: the dramas we play in our daily lives are more vital than anything people might play on a stage. The film, set in present-day Paris--unglorified but beautiful as always--explores issues of relationship and integrity as Hollywood films of the past might have done. Probably, younger audiences will be mystified by the film's unadorned grasp of what's important in life. In refreshing contrast to our current notions of get-ahead-whatever-it-takes, the main characters in this film--a group of struggling actors--place an old-fashioned value on their sense of community. Of course they want to advance in their careers, but never at the expense of their families or friends. Into their midst comes a big-time Hollywood director--a killing portrait by Peter Coyote--who is clever enough to have gotten to the top but whose basic notes invariably ring false. The result is a drama of the heart that keeps your attention riveted from first to last and, if you're able to relate to it, will send you away from the theater a bigger human being.