Each time a film with brothers and their father is made, it is quite natural for critics to compare it with Italian film "Tre Fratelli" directed by Francesco Rosi. This is exactly what they have done with "Le fils préféré" directed by famous French actress Nicole Garcia. However, these critics have got it all wrong as her film is based on an original idea which she transformed into a script by collaborating with screenwriter Jacques Fieschi and director François Dupeyron. As a film, director Nicole Garcia's long-métrage is about the role of money in a society where family ties have taken a back seat. She shows viewers how money brings three moody brothers together in a time of crisis for a father as well as his favorite son. Apart from the main theme of a family coming to terms with a ghost of the past, sexual preferences of some of its characters have developed as an important secondary theme. Although it might appear as rather crude to some viewers, it is done in a very casual as well as frank manner in the film as the actors mouth their lines about sex with absolute nonchalance. As this film has been directed by Nicole Garcia-an actress who has many important performance to her credit, viewers get the idea that ample screen space has been provided to all actors in order to do justice to their respective roles.Gérard Lanvin is present in almost all the frames, Bernard Giraudeau, Jean-Marc Barr, Pierre Mondy shine in their limited roles even Karin Viard has taken her minor role seriously. Lastly, le fils préféré is a nice film for those viewers who would like to learn and entertain themselves.
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dbdumonteil2 September 2003Like her star Bernard Giraudeau,Nicole Garcia's ambition was to direct movies;she got close for honor with her " un week-end sur deux" .She did even better with "l'adversaire"Here she wallows in rivers of clichés.
First of all,her main star is not up to scratch:Gérard Lanvin's wooden acting is desperately boring.Such a choice for the lead is really amazing!What's more infuriating is that the highly superior Bernard Giraudeau only appears 30 minutes.Bearing more than a distant resemblance to Rosi's "tre fratelli"'(1981),"le fils préféré " is a banal effort with the de rigueur gay character played by Giraudeau who wears horrible glasses and of course the father is a good-hearted man,after all.Ridiculous scene when the father nearly gets drowned.
No cigar,and not even close. -
jotix10011 August 2012Jean-Paul Mantegna, the owner of a hotel in Nice, finds himself financially strapped to keep the place going. He is at the end of his rope trying to secure a loan to tidy him over, but losing the hotel is almost inevitable. Jean-Paul's father, Raphael, a former Italian boxer, who settled in France, is now in a hospital where he is being treated for a heart condition. Jean-Paul's two siblings have parted ways with the old man and they live away from home.
As a way to get back on his feet, Jean-Paul goes to see his brother Philippe who has prospered in Milan. Philippe is not ecstatic to see his brother again, the man who seduced his wife, Anna Maria. The other brother Francis, lives not far from Nice. Francis left home as Raphael realized he was gay. He is willing to help his brother, but alas, just not enough. Anna Maria reappears bringing money to Jean-Paul, who reluctantly agrees.
Something has always bothered Jean-Paul about the way he was always favored by Raphael over the other two sons. He gets to get to the bottom of a family secret that Raphael kept from him and the reason why he was always what appeared to be the favorite son.
Under the direction of Nicole Garcia, herself an actress who worked extensively in the French cinema, this entry was disappointing because it does not feel real. The screenplay was a collaboration by Ms. Garcia and Francois Dupeyron and Jacques Fieschi. It is hard for the viewer to identify with any of the characters in the story. One of the basic flaws about why the film does not work lies in a miscast Gerard Lanvin, who does not show anything close to an emotion throughout the story.
Bernard Giraudeau who went to establish himself as one good presence in France's cinema, has some opportunities to show his talent. Italian actress Margherita Buy graces the production in a minor role as Anna Maria. Jean-Marc Barr is seen as Philippe. A young Karin Viard shows up in a minor role.