Review: Love Me If You Dare (***)

LOVE ME IF YOU DARE
A film review by Steve Rhodes

Copyright 2004 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****): ***


There's nothing like the joy of going to the theater and discovering a
cinematic original. Yann Samuell's LOVE ME IF YOU DARE (JEUX D'ENFANTS), a
romantic fairy tale for adults, is a captivating, charming and sometimes
bittersweet tale about a pair of life-long friends named Julien and Sophie.
Trust me -- you've never seen anything quite like LOVE ME IF YOU DARE.



When we meet Julien (Thibault Verhaeghe) and Sophie (Joséphine Lebas-Joly),
they are a pair of precocious eight-year-olds who love nothing better than
playing games with each other. These games are mischievous little episodes
of daring each other to do something, which they always kick off with the
one-word challenge of "Game." The movie is structured into three regular
chapters (Game, Set and Match) and a brief concluding one, whose name I will
not reveal.



Their most memorable game at age eight occurs when Julien and Sophie sneak
under the table at a party. All dressed up, they share their secret
ambitions in a game that he initiates. He says that his goal in life is to
be a tyrant with a harem and slaves. Her lone goal is to grow up to be a
cream puff. Her game after that is one of show-me-yours, to which he then
retaliates by demanding to see hers. He is proud of his private parts,
bragging that "Good workers need good tools." He is shocked, however, when
he sees hers, since isn't much there. Although there are obvious sexual
overtones to the scene, it is more of an innocent exploration between two
kids who are the very best of friends.



Julien is devastated after his mother dies, so his father asks Sophie's mom
if Sophie could spend the night to comfort Julien. They fall asleep with
their heads at different ends of the same bed. We then watch them awaken
ten years later -- in the same position. They are now pseudo-siblings and
start off the morning with an enormous, feathers-everywhere pillow fight.
Since she has a math oral exam at school in front of four teachers, he
issues a "game" challenge to her to wear her bra and panties on the outside
of her clothes. She doesn't like it, but neither of them ever turns down a
dare.



Guillaume Canet (THE BEACH) plays the teenage and adult Julien, and Marion
Cotillard (BIG FISH) plays the teenage and adult Sophie. They manage to be
even better than the child actors, who were pretty terrific themselves.



Of course, neither Julien nor Sophie overtly realizes how much in love they
are with one another. In fact, they taunt each other with their sexual
conquests of other people. The film's music is as warm and inviting as is
the Technicolor look of a few decades ago when this timeless story seems to
be set.



As they get older, their games become both more ambitious and more
dangerous, and the story keeps skipping ahead in time. The ending, which
finally cements their ever-changing relationship, is truly unique. It's
wild and wonderful. And just downright bizarre.



LOVE ME IF YOU DARE runs 1:33. The film is in French with English
subtitles. It is rated R for "language and some sexuality" and would be
acceptable for teenagers.



The film, which has already played in Europe, opens nationwide in the United
States on Friday, May 28, 2004. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing
at the Camera Cinemas.



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