Review by John P. Harvey.

Serial entrepreneur Vincent Delcourt (Wilson Lambert) begins to appreciate real life once he meets the taciturn Pierre (Grégory Gadebois) and his adoptive dog, Dog (Gaston).  After rescuing Vincent from a vehicle breakdown, Pierre, terse and obdurate though hospitable, sends Vincent on his way as soon as possible, but then repairs Vincent’s broken-down car.  When, upon returning for his car, Vincent asks to stay as a guest for a night or two, Pierre puts him up; but he clearly has other matters on his mind.

One such matter is a lady friend, Camille (Marie Gillain), for whom Pierre cooks up a feast to share with her and her young daughter, Zoé (Betty Pierucci Berthoud).  Compulsorily curious about the relationship, and soon realising that Pierre has no clue how to woo Camille, Vincent dispenses unwelcome help.

These difficulties, mismatches, and clashes mesh to lay the groundwork for a great deal of comedy as Vincent’s irresistible stratagems encounter Pierre’s immovable reticence — with Pierre’s canine companion, Dog, stealing the occasional scene in mediating between the two.  And eventual revelation of Pierre’s secrets, and of Vincent’s, only adds to the fun as it escalates Vincent’s and Pierre’s frustrations.

Shot in France’s pristine Maurienne Valley and mountainous region of Gex, A Great Friend is a movie to indulge in and to share time and again.  Its uncomplicated wisdom and quiet wit, its competing philosophies and penetrating critiques, its clashing personalities and grand vistas, its hidden pathos and humorous romanticism, all acted so naturally that it draws us into a world of dramatic irony, and all beautifully shot and backed by a gorgeous soundtrack, combine to create a masterpiece that you’ll recall with a laugh.  Even its many laugh-out-loud moments are so exquisitely timed that audience laughter doesn’t drown out the dialogue (or the well translated and well timed sub-titles).

This movie is truly a gem.  Though the dialogue is superb, the visual storytelling power too of the big screen manifests here in beautiful ways, with riveting on-screen chemistry between all the leads.

See it when you can, and, if you’ve missed it, petition your local cinema to re-run it.  You won’t regret it.

Screening at Palace cinemas.