Ma Vie Sexuelle

If you read the members' reviews of this film you'll mainly think it's over-long, has too much dialogue and not enough plot.

I'm with Francis PK though - The film is long, the plot is virtually non-existent, and the majority of the film may be based around dialogue. However, like Desplechin's other films, it is the sheer loveliness of watching characters so real and human play out their frailties and failings over a timespan that actually reflects something as near to real life as cinema can achieve that appeals. The acting is uniformly superb (Amalric and Davos especially delight), with characters developed beyond the usual detail you'd expect from a French ensemble piece.

If you want pace and plot, go for one of the more stylised French directors - If you want character and realistic, tour-de-force acting, check this out.

Here's a first, a French film that was so uninteresting, I stopped watching after half an hour and swiftly put it back in the return envelope. I'm no expert, but isn't a script meant to have something going on that keeps your interest? Good luck sitting through this one!

could not watch it to the end, talk, talk and nothing happens

'Ma Vie Sexuelle' is an immensely satisfying film and is regarded by many as Arnaud Desplechin's most complete film so far; easy to see why.

The film centres around the character of Paul (Mathieu Amalric), a junior philosophy professor who has a deeply ingrained sense of inconsequentiality in every aspect of his life. It is Paul's plight with which the film is principally concerned, although it does unpredictably veer off into interesting narratives involving his friends, which add greater depth.

Its unpredictability and great sense of narrative space seem to me to be the main strengths of this excellent film. It presents possible dream sequences and non-linear plot changes sparsely, in order to explore its themes unrestrained. This makes the film feel excitingly disorientating throughout; it's impossible to predict how it will progress and this produces a fantastic sense of freshness.

Despite its lengthy running time, every scene is dense with a feeling of unadulterated expression, it is constructed in such a way that it is never apparent when the narrative should be brought to a close, rendering its time span irrelevant, it never drags, and any ending would feel quite insubstantial; the film's main flaw, which could additionally be seen as irrelevant.

The film's study of its protagonist's every insecurity would not be complete without Mathieu Amalric's perfectly-judged performance, it also helps that he is a consistently entertaining and engaging screen presence generally. Emmanuelle Devos' performance is another stand-out, (although the cast is unanimously great), her warmth contrasts subtly with her ambiguity in 'Kings and Queen' (2004).

A group of post graduates endlessly discuss their various ambitions and their interchangeable sexual partners. As if this weren't tedious enough, the director has inserted a narrative voice to explain every thought and emotion of his main character, who is apparently incapable of making a decision about anything. It was obviously meant to be profound. Instead I found it pretentious and juvenile. Some scenes are completely incomprehensible, and seem to have been inserted purely for effect. I persevered to the end but wish I hadn't ,as the film had nothing important, original, interesting, or even amusing to say.