Rating: 
Summary: Gloriously understated
Review: I found Come Undone a pleasure to watch. I could identify with Mathieu in so many ways. Coming to terms with ones identity is a puzzling process. The film was erotic, but also subtle, an art only European film makers have an eye for.
Rating:
Summary: The nudity is beautiful. So is the plot.
Review: OK, I'll admit it. I rented it for the nudity. Done as a gay coming-of-age story, "Come Undone" seemed like a pleasant enough excuse to show some well-toned guys romping around together on a beach. So I popped the DVD in the player, and I did what I usually do with gay softcore (or with something I think is trying to pass itself off as gay softcore), which is to say that I went straight for the chapter searches and to find the film's most explicit scenes. (It's not something of character, but, c'mon, you know you've done it.)The scenes I jumped into, though as explicit as I'd hoped, left me wondering about the context of the film. As with most ambitious French films, "Come Undone" follows a non-linear plot where not everything that happens is explainable or explained away. When I stopped jumping from scene to scene, I started the film at the beginning, and I found "Come Undone" to be a somewhat complicated, resonant and smart film. I'm really glad I decided to watch the whole thing. The majority of the film is told in flashback. From the scenes that take place in the "present," we can tell that the film's main character Mathieu is depressed, just out of an institution and reluctant to talk about what's happened with his first gay relationship, which involved a boy named Cedric. The film, sometimes without warning, flashes back and forth along the timeline of their relationship. We see how they met, with Cedric staring down Mathieu on the beach. We see their first dates, their first fights. We see Cedric telling Mathieu about his more colorful past as a gay man. We see him meeting Mathieu's family. Occasionally, these scenes frame what happened a year later, after Cedric and Mathieu's relationship, which we learn became serious, is over. The film leaves it for the audience to decide what happened between the two summers, hinting that Cedric and Mathieu's courtship and breakup will be more important to who Mathieu is than how the relationship went. I fought my urge, as an American moviegoer, to have more of the loose ends of the film tied up, and I found "Come Undone" to be ultimately rewarding. So watch it for one reason. Then watch it for another. You'll find it worthwhile either way.
Rating: 
Summary: A SERIOUSLY over-rated film (not even worth[economy-hours] theatre)
Review: Well if you are into films that jump around stupidly from past and present stories, French speaking w/ English sub-titles, pathetic attempts at trying to keep your interests, and absolutely bizarre dead animal fetishes, then this film is definately for you. I thought it was a silent film at first because the dialect was almost non-exsistent for the first 10-15 minutes. The explinations of events in the story were either so vague that you had to guess at what ...was going on or completely non-exsistent to begin with. You see the relationship unfold between Mathieu and Cedric, from the sly glimpses on the beach to the planning of moving away together. When Mathieu ends up in the hospital, they never explain why he is there. You learn that Cedric cheats on him but never with who and what for. The entire story was so vague and poorly portrayed that it was completely pathetic. The only semi-good part of the movie was when he tells his family about his romantic involvment with Cedric, and that in itself was poorly dipicted. The best part of the movie was probably the sex scene on the beach, because it had the most realistic acting that I saw during the whole movie.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and haunting, not depressing or confusing
Review: The film is intelligent and unfolds at a slow pace, but there is a purpose to the timing and the director has a clear idea of what he is doing. The use of flashbacks is not nearly as confusing as some reviewers here seemed to find it. To assist viewers who might otherwise become lost, the film uses different seasons and different color palettes for the two main time-frames (warm summer colors for summer, cool more wintry colors for winter). If that's not enough, the main character wears a heavy neck-scarf during the winter scenes. Short of including subtitles giving the dates and locations of each scene, the director did everything he could to make it clear where and when the events took place. The acting is excellent, and even the secondary characters (the mother, her friend, the sister) are convincing. The cinematography is also outstanding. As for the story, it is certainly as believable as any other story of passionate first love. I especially liked the playfulness of the two main characters, because it helped to remind us that they are not that far from childhood and are just beginning to develop emotionally. While the issue of clinical depression does play a significant role in the film, I did not find the film itself to be depressing at all, but almost redemptive (though without a traditional happy ending). Video quality on the DVD is very good, as is the audio. The English subtitles were good, but you cannot turn them off.
Rating: 
Summary: AMAZON On Line Reviews help me find 5 star films!
Review: The Amazon.com On Line reviews are, generally, how I make my purchasing decisions. This approach has worked out for me in all respects, including saving me money. After reading a hundred or so reviews, and buying 30+ foreign films, including this one, I have come to believe that "Coming Undone" has the highest-quality customer reviews of any film I've bought. I don't want to sound pompous or review the reviewers, but, taken as a set of three, the reviews published here are mature and insightful. Opinions differ, howerever. I can respect reviewers giving this film only four stars. It took me a second viewing to put the scenes in chronological order. (So what? My alternative is to watch Hollywood pap aimed at kids.) I don't mind if a film makes me think. For me, personally, this film deserves a Full FIVE STAR rating. I cannot understand how anyone could award less than four stars or more--unless they prefer the comercial-at-the-expense-of-art, American approach to box office success. This film has it all for me: beautiful and believable actors, a tender and realistic plot, beautiful French coastline, beaches, and quiet country settings and more. Note: The all-too-brief shower/masturbation scene should be shown in ALL American medical schools! It so beautifully demonstrates the important function of the normal foreskin when the penis is erect.
Rating:
Summary: The best of the gay youth films.
Review: Why is it that European film makers make better films about gay youth than Americans? From my standpoint, this film is the best in the triumvirate of excellent European films that deal with love and need among young gay men, the other two being "Get Real" and "Beautiful Thing." Of the three, Come Undown is probably the most realistic and most engaging. The innocence, awkwardness and self-delusion of late adolescent love are all well depicted. All of the characters in the film are credible and 3 dimensional, and we are spared the artifice, preachiness, and excessive camp that infuse many American films on the same topic. The acting is first rate, and the film involves real, every day people whose concerns go beyond just homosexuality. We are not dealing with stock characters (and caricatures) from the Boys in the Band or the Broken Hearts Club. Some readers have criticized the film for being a "downer." No question, the film deals with depression, alienation from family, and fears of the professional consequences of pursuing a gay romance. This is not easy stuff, and let's face it folks---these issues are still part of gay life and a downer for many, many people. The fact that the film confronts the concerns does not make it a bad film, no matter how uncomfortable the confrontation makes the viewers.
Rating: 
Summary: so so
Review: the acting was a D.The sex scenes did nothing for me.No chemistry between the actors.Nonetheless the movie had a bitter truth to it that is why a gave it a 2 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Artsy and interesting but ultimately unsatisfying
Review: You know, those French always did have a way with movies. No wonder they love Jerry Lewis so much. Not to dis Jerry at all, but I've always found the French taste in movies, well, a bit off center for me. I liked the film. It takes chances and has some successes. But then again, French directors seem to enjoy leaving a lot of questions. Personally, I think it would be more satisfying to answer the questions rather than leave them just hanging almost oppressively. Maybe the director likes that. Maybe the point is to have these huge clouds hanging over my response. As you can tell, I'm still somewhat conflicted about what I'm supposed to make of it all. So, in an effort to force the issue, I come away with this: its interesting to watch the characters but I feel more manipulated by a rather tried and true art film technique. And I don't like to feel manipulated. So, while I enjoyed watching the movie (DVD actually), I can't say I was satisfied with it.
Rating:
Summary: Worth seeing if you are gay
Review: After watching the movie, I was left all confused and mad at the director for leaving the story like that. But still, there's one thing the movie did great: Depicting the pure and innocent love that could only happen between two teenagers. Although there are a lot of sex scene, it's not about lust. On that aspect, I think it's better than "Beautiful Things". I always felt "Beautiful Things" was missing something, and didn't realize what it was until I watched this movie. In "Beautiful Thing", it's more about needing each other than loving each other. Anyway, overall the movie could be a better one, but the director ruined it.
Rating:
Summary: Had to watch it twice but it was so worth it!
Review: This is a tough movie to watch - no doubt. But there is something about it that grabs you and, at the end, you are left with many questions that the filmmakers do not answer. The answers are left up to the viewer. I watched it twice to see if I could find the answers but had to be satisfied that the information not provided by the movie is not relevant to the story. It just doesn't matter what happened to the boys. The story stays the same... I loved the cat! I would recommend this movie. It is a gay movie and it has to be because I don't think this story would have unfolded the same with straight characters - Different pressures and all. Maybe I am wrong. Visually beautiful with excellent use of silence and subtlety! A great film. I want to watch it again.
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