Un Jour Mon Pere Viendra (Take 2)

[charlsie_esq]

I wanted to get this up as soon as I got home and went for speed rather than depth. I’m sure that a play-by-play spoiler-ridden review isn’t appropriate, so I’ll say what I can without giving too much away.  I will post a follow up with spoilers and such tonight after work. If anyone has special questions, please message me and I'll try to answer them as best I can. Here goes:

Un Jour Mon Pere Viendra
France Cinema Floride, Miami Florida. November 6, 2011.

Spent some time trying to find the trailer. Not yet available but found this instead:
Stills from movie: http://www.commeaucinema.com/photos/un-jour-mon-pere-viendra,186655


 
Plot Summary: Chloe is getting married. As the story begins, she’s interviewing actors to play the part of her father at her wedding to a former tennis champion (played by a well-tanned and sometimes shirtless Jamie Bamber). Unbeknownst to her, two men who believe themselves to be her father are headed to her wedding to surprise her. Antics ensue as Chloe discovers her fathers and the two men get to know their future son-in-law. Jamie plays Stephen, the ex-tennis pro. he is madly in love with his fiance and over-eager to get the approval of her father.  The movie is in French (English subtitles), mostly, but there are a handful of English scenes.

Best parts:

1. Jamie is shirtless for two full scenes. In one of them, there is really no reason for him to be shirtless except that the gods of French filmmaking saw fit to bless us.  In the other scene, he is swimming and that giant robe seen in the move stills is nowhere to be seen on film. Thank you French film gods!
2. Jamie plays an American. He speaks French with a strong American accent for this part. I think many of his fans have that moment where we wait for the sound to come from Jamie's mouth - to hear what accent he will use. I’ve listened to him speak French in interviews, and this was completely different. I am awestruck at his accent work here because the he has lines in English with an American accent but then lines in French with that twang of an American accent on the words. Brilliant!
3. Jamie’s comic timing back on display! He got huge laughs from the audience and got a bunch of funny scenes -- not just lines. The yellow ball in the stills is a running gag that winds up being really sweet.
4. Jamie’s close ups. So, Jamie’s first scene on camera is a tight shot, just sort of his head and shoulders and his very blue eyes. My friend Sara came with me to see the movie. She had never seen Jamie before but lived in France when she was in school so she came along for the ride. I mention her because when Jamie came on screen she said, “WOW!” It  was very loud. It was fitting! He looked amazing in every scene. Better than that, his range of expressions that he used in every episode of LOUK were back on display from confusion to pride to despondency to joy. I LOVE HIS FACE! 

The music in the movie bears mentioning for two reasons, first because there is a handful of English songs and The Bangles get a few mentions. Second, because Jamie’s Stephen makes a special request regarding The Scorpions “Still Loving You” that has to seen to be appreciated but makes for an excellent "groom's wedding day request come to life" scene.

All in all - LOVED IT! I really hope it gets picked up by an American distributor, but more than that, I hope it gets remade with an American cast and Jamie gets to play Stephen again.

French is my native language, living in South Florida, you don't get to hear it that much. Sitting in a room full of people that are not my family and are speaking French was incredible. So amazing!