There's a philosophical/moral question to be posed here: is it acceptable to lure potential viewers into an Art House movie by giving prominent billing to high-profile actresses who are on screen for barely ten-fifteen minutes each and share no scenes. I wouldn't cross the street to see Benoit Magimal if his co-stars were run-of-the-mill but show me the name Isabelle Carre and I'll make a real effort, throw in Audrey Tautao - who admittedly I can take or leave and it suddenly becomes a viable proposition. We learn from the first scene that Tautao and Magimal are a married couple with two small children. She is disenchanted because he leaves virtually all domestic chores to her (he's a writer) and she is holding down a job in a hospital where, as she tells him, children are dying. After five or ten minutes of squabbling she leaves for work and never returns. In the fullness of time Magimal quits Paris in favour of his childhood home on the Brittany coast where his brother runs a Driving School and gives him a job. At the school gate Magimal meets another father and turns a blind eye when the man kidnaps his son. This brings cop Isabelle Carre onto the scene but she appears for two minutes here, one minute there and whilst it would be logical for her and Magimal to form a relationship this never happens. I've always grouped Magimal with Romain Duris and Gaspar Ulliel, all three cocky, arrogant, full of themselves, ho-hum actors at best albeit clearly attractive to female viewers. Here he is, as always, quick to anger but to be fair he does make a half decent fist of the role. It's not something I'd go out of my way to see again but certainly watchable.
Review of Headwinds
