StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Warren Spencer Michel (Laurent Lucas) is a dedicated family man riding the responsibilities of modern life as he takes his entourage on a family trip. The seemingly perfect life however has started to show cracks - on a sweltering French summer day his air conditioning is packed in, his three children are wearing his patience to breaking point and his wife's ill-thought scorns and put-downs do nothing to alleviate the strain. Couple this with some overbearing parents and a country retreat which is rapidly turning into a money pit and his problems are beginning to snowball more than he appreciates.Enter Harry (Sergi Lopez) an old acquaintance from school and a memory so distant Michel can barely grasp it. A brief conversation in a rest-stop men's room then outside a few minutes later and Harry is inviting himself and his girlfriend Plum (Sophie Guillemin) to the hideaway, waving away all protest in the spirit of camaraderie. Against better judgment Michel's wife Claire (Mathilde Seigner) rides with the disruptive kids to travel in Harry's super-cooled Mercedes....On their first evening at the barn it's apparent that Michel's vague memory is not matched by Harry's. He quotes verbatim from Michel's old school-rag poetry and recalls perfect detail of his early female conquests. Eyebrows are raised but Michel is not overly disturbed by Harry's unusual demeanour, or his post-orgasmic rituals in the small hours. More concern is the garish fuschia paint that Michel's parents have lovingly adorned the bathroom with, totally disparate to the rusticity of the remaining structure, as well as their impending visit. Harry and Plum seem content to want to idle a few days away with their new-found buddies. First things first though, the family motor is in need of attention after leaving Claire stranded the next day and Harry is a man of solutions - and substantial resources. Car trouble? Here's a new one. Enjoy. And although the cash-strapped couple balk at the generosity, Harry is able to justify his actions in his hope to provide a remedy for their immediate difficulties. Motives soon become a little clearer when Harry expresses disappointment at Michel's abandonment in creative pursuits for want of a family idyll that isn't materialising. He sets about clearing a path for his endeavours, convincing him of his unrealised talent and trying to railroad him back to what Harry sees as his priorities. Harry can see Michel's distractions and recognises they are holding him back at every turn so he sets on a course of solutions once more. He is here to help after all, and if help comprises of dispatching the odd nuisance obstacle, then so be it. What use to Michel (and indeed Harry) is a collection of philistines, dim-wits and bickerers when he could be re-imagining his high school masterpiece 'Les Singes Volantes' ('The Flying Monkeys') and fulfilling years of waylaid promise?'Harry' has been described as a modern day Hitchcock thriller and in many ways this is a justified belief. Darkly comic and edgy, Harry is reminiscent of the calm calculated protagonists from 'Rope' albeit with a cooler exterior. A satisfyingly uneasy entry in modern French cinema.

Vomitron_G I finally watched it, been on my to-see list ever since it came out. Great film that perfectly fulfilled my expectations. The only advice I can give, is don't expect to be overwhelmed by the time the film ends. Though it gets pretty demented at times, its ways are strangely subtle. If you've liked Michael Haneke's "Funny Games", then you should not hesitate to see this French film too.Michel and Clair are travelling by car to their remote summer house on the outskirts in Switzerland. Taking some time off to renovate things & spending a holiday with their little kids. Still in French, at a highway rest-stop, Michel encounters Harry, who claims to be an old schoolmate of him. Michel has no instant recollection of what all Harry has to say, but politely plays along, clearly avoiding any offense to Harry. And when Harry, accompanied by his sex doll wife Prune, kindly suggests to drive from France to Switzerland together, in separate cars, Michel agrees. His wife Clair, hesitantly reluctant at first, ultimately consents. The moral of this set-up? Trust your wife's female intuition. Michel just made a big mistake.From the moment Sergi López gets introduced as the friendly Harry (at the start of the film), director Dominik Moll manages to saddle you up with an uncomfortable feeling. And very slowly, it all becomes more and more unsettling as the film proceeds. The events & complications portrayed, make excellent use of the isolated setting that our family inhabits. The environment itself poses absolutely no threat and for once, it's also not the locals our outsider family should fear. The bad things will come from someone they've already invited into their comfort zone. And by the time they start realizing that, bad things are already getting worse.A big merit of this film, is undoubtedly the fact that Moll put real characters into realistic situations. And he does all this by not exaggerating or emphasizing details, but keeping things simple instead. While Harry, and subsequently his wife Prune also, provide all the necessary abnormality in this every-day plot, it's the characterization of the family that makes this film feel familiar and real. It's the little things, like kids getting annoying on the backseat of the car during a long summer drive. Or Michel's parents having the desire to meddle & help out with his undertakings, often more uncalled for than not so. Michel's mother making a subtle inquiry about his wife, indicating us she has her own thoughts on her son's marriage. These little details are irrelevant to the plot, but they make real humans out of the characters. And while you pick up on these subtleties, it enhances the awareness of the fact that Harry's abnormal behaviour is seeping into the lives of these very normal people. Even in scenes where Harry is not featured, you keep him in mind, because at most given moments he will always be in the company of another family member on another location. A splendid way to keep the viewer on his toes in a slow but steady moving film."Harry, Un Ami Qui Vous Veut Du Bien" is by no means explicit, but it's still an effectively disturbing film. At times slightly comedic, due to Harry's impossible behaviour. Lòpez strikes the right note with his performance between overtly friendliness & plain craziness. At no point he goes shamelessly over the top, nor does the film really feature any excessive outbursts of hard on-screen violence, and that really works for the better. The mild brilliance of this film, lies with the question as to what Harry's motivation is and what the outcome of it all will be. Do not expect a big mystery to be revealed. Do not expect a puzzle from the past explained. Do not expect grotesque bloodshed and violence. Expect subtlety and finesse to great effect.

richard_sleboe Evil dentists are everywhere: Think "The Little Shop of Horrors", "The Whole Nine Yards", "Punch-Drunk Love", "Marathon Man", and, of course, "Brazil". But Michel's dad (Dominiqze Rozan) adds a new touch. A long-retired doddering dentist, the old man insists on a check-up whenever his son (Laurent Lucas) is visiting. Like Michel hadn't got enough to worry about without opening wide for daddy's drill. He is all but broke, and his vacation home is going to pieces. As is his marriage to classy Claire (Mathilde Seigner, Emmanuelle Seigner's kid sister). This is when Harry (Sergi López) shows up, bimbo (Sophie Guillemin) in tow. A friend from school, Harry believes Michel is destined to be a writer and tries to help him get back in touch with his muse. Trouble is we never learn why. As a result, the movie is stuck in the middle between the commonplace and the absurd. Director Dominik Moll's most recent feature, "Lemming", takes things a lot further in the direction of the surreal, and to advantage too. "Harry" picks up speed in its final half-hour though. Think "Blood Simple" meets "The Cable Guy". My favorite character: the flying monkey in the nightmare scene.

Philip Van der Veken I guess we've all once met someone who said that he knows you from I don't know where, while you absolutely can't remember the person's name or where you know him/her from. With "Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien" or "Harry Is Here to Help" the makers have based their story on exact such a situation.When on a hot summers day, Michel and his family go on a trip to visit his parents in the south of France, they stop at a gas station near the highway. In the restroom, a man asks Michel if he doesn't recognize him anymore. He says he's Harry and that he once went to the same school as Michel. He suggests they have a drink, so he and his girlfriend follow Michel and his family to their summer house. So far nothing special, but when Harry is able to quote from memory a poem Michel wrote in school, Michel is very surprised. Harry appears to think that Michel is one of the greatest writers ever and can't understand why Michel doesn't write anymore. Harry tells him that he should start again, but that he has to get rid of all the "nuissances" (his wife, his kids, his parents,...) that will prevent him from writing excellent stories. When Michel hesitates, it's Harry who'll "help" him...What I really liked about this movie was the dark humor, although I'm convinced that many people will not. Laughing with for instance murder, isn't exactly to everybody's taste, but personally I really liked it. And yet the entire movie didn't always convince me. Especially in the beginning it was never able to fully grab me. Only when the killing started, it had me completely in its power. I would say that the quality is quite good, but not excellent. The acting is OK, without excelling, I liked the humor and the story is nice (but only at its best in the end). Overall I would reward this movie with a 6.5/10. If you want to see a great dark European comedy, than I suggest you watch the Danish movie "De Grønne slagtere" (aka "The Green Butchers"). It's a lot better, but also a lot darker than this one.