Review: Little White Lies (2011)

★★★☆☆
Director: Guillaume Canet
Starring: François Cluzet, Marion Cotillard, Benoît Magimel, Gilles Lellouche, Jean Dujardin

A group of friends' annual holiday is threatened when one of them, Ludo (Dujardin), is involved in an accident that leaves him hospitalized. Battling with the pros and cons of whether they can leave Ludo in his current state, they ultimately decide that they can leave him. They convince themselves that they won't really be very far and there isn't much they can do by Ludo's bedside. As the film progresses we learn of their personal grief and secrets that threaten to drive a wedge between them.

The film is an interesting take on what could happen to friendships if they are tested or stretched too far. Little White Lies starts off as quite slowly. After the initial shock of the accident of course. It tries to establish each of the main characters and their relationship to one another. This proves to be problematic as there are quite a few characters that have a lot of depth and to cover the depth of each one would probably take a lot longer than the running time (which is an already substantial 2 hours 34 minutes).  Some relationships seem like they are simply given in bullet points and feel too rushed. The balance between depth and what is relevant seems like it isn't addressed properly. 

Once the plot thickens, however, it is a lot more enjoyable. The characters have an extremely endearing quality about them, especially when we explore their relationships with one another. It feels like a group of fallible people that are prone to the kind of mistakes we are all capable of making. It seems as though they may be afraid that their secrets could change everything and that firmly grounds the story. Something secrets tend to do to friendships is change the status quo. Why? Usually it is one of three reasons: either it's such an awful secret that you are considered different to who you were thought to be, or because the friend feels betrayed that you thought them untrustworthy, or you reveal an undeniable love for your friend that makes it difficult to ever be the same again. The second half of the film feels poetic and sweet and has that beautiful french joie de vivre feeling about days gone by as the secrets unfold because they have this very real approach to relationships.  

For me this film deserves three stars simply because it takes too long to get into. It is perfectly understandable that to make this story come to life we need to know who we are watching, but it isn't done well enough. The saving grace of this movie is the casting. The story is a very intriguing study of the human condition, but the cast really bring it to life and have a real chemistry. I would class it as one of those laid back lazy afternoon movies, but definitely worth a watch!