This is a fine retelling of foreign adoption and I heartily recommend it for people who are considering adoption with, however, a major caveat. If you are a potential adopter, you had better be VERY comfortable in your own skin or, after you see this film, you may decide not to go through with it. For the average film-goer, feel free to give this one a pass.
All of the frustrations and guilt surrounding the process are on display, albeit from a strong French perspective. I was a bit taken back by the quantity of whining of the participants about the "Americans and Canadians" who are so rich that they pervert the process. Maybe true, maybe not, but all of the potential French adopters are portrayed as just average folks who do not have the resources that a North American might. (A lower middle class doctor?) To my eyes, that theme became a disturbing political polemic that took away from the thrust of the movie. For reference, I am usually just to the left of Lenin so this takes some doing.
There are other factual lapses in the movie that begin to get under your skin after a while but the heart really is there. As a foreign adopter myself, there are a lot of moments in this film when I recognized an identical scene in my own life. The emotions flow to the surface throughout.
As a movie going experience, well, this film needs an editor. There are scenes that go on forever; story lines that are dropped; characters who appear and disappear without resolution; more lapses in logic than a bad horror film; etc., etc. The director's determination to include all the film he had in the can creates a movie going experience more akin to the Lifetime network than great cinema. Too bad, really.
Overall, a qualified yes for those in the process now or in the past. The film's emotional center is spot on. For everyone else, look elsewhere.
All of the frustrations and guilt surrounding the process are on display, albeit from a strong French perspective. I was a bit taken back by the quantity of whining of the participants about the "Americans and Canadians" who are so rich that they pervert the process. Maybe true, maybe not, but all of the potential French adopters are portrayed as just average folks who do not have the resources that a North American might. (A lower middle class doctor?) To my eyes, that theme became a disturbing political polemic that took away from the thrust of the movie. For reference, I am usually just to the left of Lenin so this takes some doing.
There are other factual lapses in the movie that begin to get under your skin after a while but the heart really is there. As a foreign adopter myself, there are a lot of moments in this film when I recognized an identical scene in my own life. The emotions flow to the surface throughout.
As a movie going experience, well, this film needs an editor. There are scenes that go on forever; story lines that are dropped; characters who appear and disappear without resolution; more lapses in logic than a bad horror film; etc., etc. The director's determination to include all the film he had in the can creates a movie going experience more akin to the Lifetime network than great cinema. Too bad, really.
Overall, a qualified yes for those in the process now or in the past. The film's emotional center is spot on. For everyone else, look elsewhere.