With A Friend Like Harry

Rating:
Summary: A "Pea-Brained Cow" of a Movie
Review: OK, OK - I should have known better. Haven't I been burned by enough highly acclaimed French films? But "Harry" had real promise: a true thriller - not the standard foreign-film avant garde mumbo-jumbo. With highly favorable reviews comparisons to "Momento", and even Hitchcock, how could this possibly miss? Regrettably, it did.

Sure, the premise is interesting enough: a rich and eccentric supposed acquaintance from long ago (Harry) mysteriously shows up and immediately begins imposing unsolicited favors and gifts on Michele and his family. So far, so good. But beyond an annoyingly realistic portrayal of the "joys" of automobile travel in a hot car with three young kids, the plot was thinly developed, and the story just a bit too unbelievable to inspire any real credibility. The acting: typical French aloof indifference to what was actually supposed to be happening on the screen. And while Harry had sufficient "creep" factor and mystique to hold one's casual interest, the viewer's curiousities about him are never really fulfilled. In the end, I was left frustrated by the lack of explanation of Harry's ultimate motivation, and his fanatical fascination with the husband/father, Michele. Is Harry crazy? Sure he is - but that alone is shallow excuse for avoiding explanation and closure of the story. With the irony of a Hitchcock or the surrealism of a David Lynch, this could have been a great film. But unfortunately, neither are evident. In summary, it is your basic "'friend' helps man trade his mother, father and brother for a new car, becomes a killer, and finds true happiness" kind of story line. As an offbeat alternative to the standard stuff Hollywood fare, I'd skip this one and recommend either "Mulholland Drive" or "Momento".

Rating:
Summary: sneakier than Hitchcock
Review: This one moves slowly, but then it's supposed to. And it's not just a suspense film, it's an allegory.

Harry represents can-do, free-market America, invading old, tired, depressed Europe. He's relentlessly, crazily upbeat, always looking for solutions, which often turn out to be products. When people don't suffice, he replaces them, as if they were products. And for all the oddness and intrusiveness of Harry, the products he offers (or leaves behind) always bring an undeniable benefit to the European family. The film, in the end, is about the devil's bargain of American values creeping into Old Europe.

Hints about the America/Europe split in mentality are all over the film if you look for them. Perhaps the biggest is the last--look at what the family is doing in the end. The allegorical hints are what make the movie fun to watch more than once, and put it a cut above most Hitchcock films. Great flick.

Rating:
Summary: Please, not another Hitchcock wannabe...
Review: This film was "hyped" as something wonderful and new to behold. Unfortunately, the movie I saw had little to do with wonderful or new. The photography was excellent and visually it was interesting. The plot, however, was the same-old-same old strange stranger, helpful stranger, is he really a stranger? theme. This has been done time and time again, and this film presents nothing new. This is not one "hip" (their words, not mine) bandwagon to jump on. Filming a dull, unfunny movie in French does not change the fact that its dull and unfunny. I was really looking forward to what the previews advertised...something mysterious. Alas...

Rating:
Summary: Well-Crafted and Entertaining Suspense
Review: The top American screenwriters of suspense thrillers will tell you that dealing with movie stars limits your possibilities. For example, if Harrison Ford is starring in your picture, you know he's going to be your hero. As a result, it is very difficult to maintain any level of surprise or suspense.

Fortunately in WITH A FRIEND LIKE HARRY, we don't have that problem. Because there are no big stars, we're never sure quite what to expect. Instead, we're allowed to just enjoy a good thriller.

If you're a fan of suspense thrillers, you definitely don't want to miss this one. It's very tight. It'll keep you at the edge of your seat.

Enjoy the ride!

Rating:
Summary: Well crafted but old hat
Review: This is a well made film but it is just another take off on the theme of the seemingly good natured person who insinuates himself into a person's life and then proves to be very dangerous. It has been done about twenty times in American films - Fatal Attraction being the beginning of a long line of imitators. Unfortunately, the ending never explains everything. Is Harry really an old classmate? Why is he obsessed with Michael? What is the big deal with the "flying monkeys" story? We will never know because this film doesn't answer these questions.

Rating:
Summary: This movie is a REAL gem!
Review: Skip the spoilers who consider a movie review to comprise a detailed plot summary along with a Psych 101 interpretation. With a Friend Like Harry is a jewel of its kind, Hitchcock would love it. Consider that most of it takes place either indoors or outdoors at night or on menacing serpentine roads. Very claustrophic effects, just like the master himself. And it is devoid of the usual clichéd homages & in-jokes that prevail in the usual Hitchcock wannabe film. It builds smoothly & menacingly, with perfect tempo, the characters are believable to the point of banality - again, just like the master's very best films. But over & above the expert elements of suspense & character & humor that pervade this movie, I would like to add that it is a delicious contemporary reading of the universal Faust legend & to me that is it's ultimate brilliance.

Rating:
Summary: Intense, Polanski-like thriller almost a gem.
Review: With a Friend Like Harry takes quite a while to reveal itself. It's establishing a tone and the relationships of those you are going to be involved with. The film has a lot in common with
Hitchcock in how it takes its time (like say Psycho did for instance) in deciding to tell you what is going on. When you start realizing what is going on... the suspense starts to increase. I was ahead of this film through most of its running time, but that worked in terms of building suspense as well because the characters are ones you are interested in and care about.

I'm purposely not going to tell you much about the film. In terms of re-counting plot synopsis' there's not a great deal to this story of a married couple who bump into a helpful stranger and his wife, a stranger who had gone to high school with the husband. He's odd, but seems friendly and reveals himself to be very quirky but seemingly friendly. There's wonderful details and ironies to be discovered (perhaps on your second viewing) within this film about it's characters. Gee a film where you are actually interested in the characters--imagine that. It slowly builds And reveals and has a few tricks up its sleeve. The film is character based and does not rely on Any over the top type set pieces. You might say it's quiet that way. Quiet in the way an early Polanski film like Cul de Sac was. The tension builds, slowly and methodical until you're more than ready for almost anything.

Direct Dominik Moll cannily manipulates the audiences in how he places his actors and uses his camera. He captures the tensions of a normal life with an accuracy that rings so true you'll identify at least in part with Michel, (Laurent Lucas), and his wife, Claire (Mathilde Seigner, sister of actress Emmanuelle Seigner) and their 3 children.

Michel is a very modern and updated version of the hen-pecked husband. We'll come to realize that in his effort to be 'fair' and in trying to please others, Michael has completely lost himself. He's buried his dreams and lets others use him as a doormat. His children, his wife and his parents have all played a part in overwhelming him and when he has a few spare moments to think about what has happened he resents the way his life has become something not his own.

Harry (Sergi Lopez) bumps into Michael in a roadside restroom and recognizes him. They went to school together didn't they? When Michel and Claire's car breaks down, Harry and his rather vacant but sexy girlfriend, Plum (Sophie Guillemin) offer them assistance. Thus begins what at first seems like an updated variation of The Man Who Came To Dinner as siphoned through one of those Pacific Heights, Single White Female, Or The Hand that Rocks the Cradle films. Most of those tried to mimic Hitchcock with mixed to poor results.

This film however has as much in common with Hitchcock as it does with an early Polanski effort such as Cul de Sac. This is a good thing. On the surface most of the characters seem Average, but then we begin to peel off the layers. The film is pretty easy to predict but there are twists that work quite well. For the most part the twists are believable and do not de-rail the film into some kind of slasher film histironics as often happens with films in this genre.

The acting is all top-notch and the situations build convincingly. What may be difficult to fully accept are the motivations driving Harry to insist on being Michael's friend. Perhaps an extra layer could have been revealed to better convince us, Harry has reasons we can almost identify with for doing some of the things he tries to do. I can make up (in my mind) a few elements of a back-story to make it work very well indeed.... But it would have been nice if the script-writer had added another layer, and put it on the screen. Some are going to find the film strains credibility to some degree and it won't connect with them and be as effective as it could have been.. The characters in this film I'm happy to say don't seem to be used merely as convenient devices for a clever stylish film. They act, sound and behave as normal people do. You don't see this very much in the movies anymore.

NOTE:
The film is absolutely destroyed if you watch the dubbed in English version of the film. The voices who do the dubbing are poor and have terrible phony inflections that utterly ruin the tone, texture and mood the film creates. I don't care how lazy you are feeling, you are doing yourself and the filmmakers are real dis-favor by watching the English dubbed version of the film. Watch it in French, the subtitles are easy to read and any effort you might put forth by doing so is well worth it. After you've seen the film if you want to go check out how awful the dub version is, go right ahead. You'll see within a few minutes what I'm talking about and I hope you'll wait until after you see the film the first time before checking the dubbed version out.

DVD STUFF

With A Friend Like Harry is presented in an anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio, and the transfer is very well done. The flesh tones seem to be slightly on the orange side but it's done on purpose and reminds one of the older 50's type of color films such as Vertigo or Rear Window. The colors are slightly over-saturated and tend to bleed slightly but the black levels are very strong and everything appears very clear and bright. I notice very little grain, dirt, dust of scratches on the print used for the transfer.

Both the French and awful English soundtracks are presented in full Dolby Digital 5.1. Stick with the French soundtrack and read the subtitles.

An impressive job has been done on this DVD.

Only three theatrical trailers are your extra features.

Christopher Jarmick, is the author of The Glass Cocoon with Serena F. Holder a critically acclaimed, steamy suspense thriller.

Rating:
Summary: Predictable but Good Acting
Review: The plot is predictable & a bit slow in the beginning, but Sergi López gives a great performance as Harry.

Rating:
Summary: A REAL PAL
Review: The darkest of black comedies, and the best French film of 2000, "WITH A FRIEND LIKE HARRY" (Miramax, $33), arrives on DVD with a slight title change (originally "Harry, he's here to help") and an English dub. Going into too much story detail will spoil the viewing experience.

Even a simple summary does not do justice to the dangerously wicked unfolding of the story that starts when two guys Michael (Laurent Lucas) and Harry (Sergi Lopez) bump into each other in the men's rooms of a rural gas station. It seems they went to school together but haven't seen each other for at least a decade. Harry vividly recalls some good times that don't seem to mean much to Michael.

Harry and his fiance end up at the country home of Michael, his wife and two screaming kids. Michael tells Harry, who is rich, about the pressure of helping his aging parents and problems with his scheming brother. This is a slick, ironic, taught, cynical, intense and unexpected thriller, minimalistically written and stylishly directed by Dominik Moll. Finishing the implied title phrase ("With a friend like Harry ... who needs enemies?") is not giving away any secrets because in actuality, scary Harry is only the id to Michael's ego. Watch it in French with English subtitles, it's even better. Or worse. Depending on your frame of mind.

Rating:
Summary: Psycho Killer, Quest-ce Que Cest?
Review: Spoiler Alert. Dominick Moll's understated thriller shares much in common with George Sluizer's "Vanishing", not the least of which is a killer who is impossible to dislike. Sergei Lopez of "An Affair of Love", stars as Harry Ballasteros, a manganimous and wealthy fellow who resorts to increasingly horrific means to help his old school chum, Michel, deal with his bickering family and a stalled writing career. The film progresses a little bit too slowly to build any scares, but I don't think that the point of the film is to shock. Rather than resort to violence or gore, Moll builds suspense using an undercurrent of class conflict (between Harry and the less well-off Michel) and the natural irritations provided by Michel's family: screaming kids, nagging wife, overbearing parents, slacker brother. As was the case with "The Vanishing", Harry's motivations remain a mystery throughout. Some might feel that this leaves a bit of a vacuum at the film's center, but I'd prefer a hidden motivation to the cockamamie Scooby-Doo explanations that dog most movies in this genre. I think audiences can supply their own reasons for Harry's behavior. On the whole, the film is sufficiently entertaining for me to recommend. If you've been turned off by the Dogme '95/Olivier Assayas style of shaky-cam auteurism that's recently been infecting European cinema, this well-made little thriller may bring you solace.