Average customer rating:
- With a Friend Like Harry
- fine, ambiguous thriller
- Hitchcock wannabe
- mind-bending, creepy, highly entertaining
- We Need More "Friend"s Like This
|
With A Friend Like Harry
Starring:
Laurent Lucas ,
Sergi López ,
Mathilde Seigner ,
Sophie Guillemin , and
Liliane Rovère
Director:
Dominik Moll
Manufacturer: Miramax
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00005NTN4
Release Date: 2001-10-23 |
Amazon.com
It takes nearly an hour for anything unusual to happen in With a Friend Like Harry, but that first hour is oddly unsettling. German filmmaker Dominik Moll reveals the trouble with Harry (Sergi López) with low-key precision, his thriller sensibility channeled from Hitchcock through Claude Chabrol, while emphasizing casual conversation in the style of Eric Rohmer. Harry's found Michel (Laurent Lucas) in a public restroom, identifying himself as an old schoolmate who remembers far too much about Michel, even though Michel has no recollection of Harry at all. But Harry's an ingratiating type, and nice enough on the surface, so Michel invites Harry and his girlfriend, Plum (Sophie Guillemin), to the summer cottage he's renovating with his wife, Claire (Mathilde Seigner), and their three young daughters. The Spanish actor López (from An Affair of Love) modulates his performance so carefully that Harry's psychosis--never explained, but strangely compelling--reverberates well beyond the film's shocking conclusion. It turns out Harry's been a helpful friend after all, but that's cold comfort in a film that warns us against the kindness of strangers. --Jeff Shannon
Description
Acclaimed by critics everywhere, WITH A FRIEND LIKE HARRY is a highly suspenseful psychological thriller about a family vacation that takes an unexpectedly wicked turn! While travleing with their three daughters in the midst of a stiffling heat wave, Michel and Claire run into Harry, a wealthy eccentric who claims to have known Michel in high school. Swayed by Harry's persuasiveness and a ride in his air-conditioned Mercedes, Michel and Claire find themselves inviting Harry along on their vacation. As this nail-biting story unfolds in a series of unpredictable twists, you'll find yourself riveted as Harry's motives soon become suspect and one strange episode after another begins to change Michel's life.
Customer Reviews:
With a Friend Like Harry.......2007-07-30
An intelligent and unsettling domestic thriller, Moll's "Harry" turns a man's frustrated writerly ambitions and confused existence into grist for another's twisted--and ultimately homicidal--handiwork. The suspense hinges partly on how Harry's logic-warping speeches to Michel fuse the psychology of self-realization with psychotic rationalization. Quietly dispatching anything standing in the way of Michel's long-suppressed dreams, Lopez inhabits the role of sinister motivational expert with dark charisma. Wickedly entertaining, with a perversely humorous kick, "Harry" is a troubled house guest you won't mind entertaining.
fine, ambiguous thriller.......2007-07-30
With A Friend Like Harry is one of those exceptionally well done thrillers that demonstrates a certain artistic quality that so many poorly made, mass produced thriller movies lack. The convincing acting, the weird plot developments and the stress everyone seems to be under in this film make it a true thriller masterpiece.
The movie begins its creepy quality from almost the beginning of the film. Imagine! Michel (Laurent Lucas) is on a trip with his wife Claire (Mathilde Seigner) and their three daughters to their rundown summer cottage and just by pure coincidence (???) Michel meets someone he went to school with: Harry (Sergi López). In a matter of minutes the eager to please and modest Michel is already feeding into Harry's plans for him. Michel and his wife Claire let Harry and his girlfriend Plum accompany them to their summer home which they are renovating. Almost immediately you are stunned by the fact that Harry buys Michel and his family a SUV seemingly without wanting anything in return. Things do move in the first hour--but they don't move too fast. The director, Dominik Moll, makes sure that the scenes, acting and music slowly set you up for a creepy thriller roller coaster even if during the beginning there isn't a cloud in the sky.
Predictably, it's not long after Harry shows up (really just a few days in the film) that things in Michel's family begin to go horribly wrong. People drop like flies and eventually even Michel himself begins to have his doubts about Harry. Harry claims he just wants Michel to write again unencumbered by the stresses of his family responsibilities (the three girls, his wife). Is it that simple?
We never get a definitive answer to that question. Harry, of course, is a psychopath madly obsessed with Michel and Michel's writing. Is Harry planning to ultimately kill Michel after other people have died? Why does Harry continue to come by even after Claire's visit to him in the hotel where Harry is staying with his girlfriend Plum? We never really know with any certainty. In addition, I like the point one reviewer makes when they write that Michel's dislike of the SUV could represent French disdain for Americans. Is this absolutely clear in the movie? Of course not.
And therein lies the immense power of this film. The fact that we never know the answers to so many questions increases the power of the film exponentially: not unlike a piece of abstract modern art, Harry, Michel, Claire, Plum, and the others can be viewed differently by different viewers and still have meaning. Every viewer may interpret events and people as they personally wish them to be. Awesome!
The convincing acting stuns me; I even had goose bumps at one key point in the movie! The cinematography shines its best with the panoramic vistas of the French countryside; and the choreography doesn't falter once.
The DVD comes with few extras besides some unrelated previews for other movies; this is a disappointment but the brilliant film glows so brightly that I will forgive this disappointment.
In short, With A Friend Like Harry gives its audience a five star, first rate thriller. I disagree with others who say that there's comedy in the movie--the "creepiness factor" is so high from the very beginning that I focused on that alone.
I highly recommend this film for anyone who likes thriller movies with their inevitable plot twists and unexpected turns. I hope that you get this film, savor it and think about it for some while to come.
Hitchcock wannabe.......2007-06-03
This movie was too "in-your-face" to be a thriller.
It lacked any finesse. It was not polished and in the end, I felt a little cheated.
I have many of the movies done by Alfred Hitchcock & David Mamet. I find their movies well directed and have some genuine tense moments that leave you guessing what's going to happen next.
This movie however is about as subtle as a kick in the groin. The acting is passable but certainly not as enjoyable as a Hitchcock or Mamet movie.
mind-bending, creepy, highly entertaining.......2006-11-17
I saw this movie in the theatre the first time and was totally confused as to the Harry character. After reading reviews and watching it again many years later, I'd agree that the Harry character is supposed to represent the id or dark side of Michel's personality. Those evil impulses that everyone has and suppresses either because they want to or have to are in this story personified in Harry. Harry goes on to act out these evil impulses.
Some clues: Michel first meets Harry while looking at his reflection in the mirror. Michel's conversations at night in the kitchen with Harry sound like a guy debating conflicting ideas in his own head. No one comes looking for Harry and Plum at the end. By the movie's end it seems that Michel has sold himself out or given in to his dark side in some way - I guess that's the main point.
Very entertaining.
We Need More "Friend"s Like This.......2005-04-14
Michel and his wife are making their annual trek to a rural farmhouse they purchased a few years ago in the French countryside. Every summer, they spend their vacation there, fixing it up. Their three young girls sit in the back seat of the hot car, complaining, crying and venting their misery. Finally, Michel decides to stop at a gas station and freshen up. There, he runs into an old friend, Harry, whom he does not recognize, but Harry certainly recognizes him. Harry remembers the poem and short story Michel published in the school newspaper over twenty years ago. Harry invites himself to their farmhouse for a drink. Harry and his girlfriend, Plum, soon become guests. Slowly, they learn about Michel and Sophie's life. Harry, financially well-off, decides to buy them an air conditioned SUV.
"With A Friend Like Harry", the new French film released by Miramax Zoe in the United States, is a very interesting, fun film.
Virtually every newspaper ad for the film quotes a reviewer who compares the film to Hitchcock's works. Comparing a film to a classic is always a tricky concept. Comparing a film to the work of someone as revered as Hitchcock usually illicits snickers and derision. "With A Friend Like Harry" is the first film I have seen in some time that is worthy of such comparisons. It isn't as good as Hitchcock's best, or even his good, but it does reach for the same level of suspense that Hitchcock was able to achieve over and over again.
"Harry" also relies on the same suspension of belief that Hitchcock relied on frequently. Can a man mistake a woman that he had an intimate relationship with simply because she has changed her hair color? Can a man solve a murder while bound to a wheelchair in his apartment? Can a man survive a cross country hunt? In "Harry" we have to believe that a man will recognize a classmate after twenty years and feel strongly enough about him to help him change his life. The actor playing Harry, Sergio Lopez, reveals the layers of his character in a very restrained manner. Slowly, we realize that the character is deranged and psychotic, but we don't learn this from a foaming mouth or long diatribes.
The actor playing Michel is also very good. He brings a quiet desperation to the role. He is a family man who has never realized his dreams, but he knows that he now has responsibilities and carries on.
The rustic French farmhouse is an ideal location. A bit surrealistic, it allows the characters to act differently toward one another. Slowly, as Michel changes, he seeks solitude in the newly remodeled bathroom, a pink horror that his parents have commissioned in the little farmhouse.
"With A Friend Like Harry" is a very good, very suspenseful, enjoyable and, at times, funny film.
Amazon.com
It takes nearly an hour for anything unusual to happen in With a Friend Like Harry, but that first hour is oddly unsettling. German filmmaker Dominik Moll reveals the trouble with Harry (Sergi López) with low-key precision, his thriller sensibility channeled from Hitchcock through Claude Chabrol, while emphasizing casual conversation in the style of Eric Rohmer. Harry's found Michel (Laurent Lucas) in a public restroom, identifying himself as an old schoolmate who remembers far too much about Michel, even though Michel has no recollection of Harry at all. But Harry's an ingratiating type, and nice enough on the surface, so Michel invites Harry and his girlfriend, Plum (Sophie Guillemin), to the summer cottage he's renovating with his wife, Claire (Mathilde Seigner), and their three young daughters. The Spanish actor López (from An Affair of Love) modulates his performance so carefully that Harry's psychosis--never explained, but strangely compelling--reverberates well beyond the film's shocking conclusion. It turns out Harry's been a helpful friend after all, but that's cold comfort in a film that warns us against the kindness of strangers. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews:
With a Friend Like Harry.......2007-07-30
An intelligent and unsettling domestic thriller, Moll's "Harry" turns a man's frustrated writerly ambitions and confused existence into grist for another's twisted--and ultimately homicidal--handiwork. The suspense hinges partly on how Harry's logic-warping speeches to Michel fuse the psychology of self-realization with psychotic rationalization. Quietly dispatching anything standing in the way of Michel's long-suppressed dreams, Lopez inhabits the role of sinister motivational expert with dark charisma. Wickedly entertaining, with a perversely humorous kick, "Harry" is a troubled house guest you won't mind entertaining.
fine, ambiguous thriller.......2007-07-30
With A Friend Like Harry is one of those exceptionally well done thrillers that demonstrates a certain artistic quality that so many poorly made, mass produced thriller movies lack. The convincing acting, the weird plot developments and the stress everyone seems to be under in this film make it a true thriller masterpiece.
The movie begins its creepy quality from almost the beginning of the film. Imagine! Michel (Laurent Lucas) is on a trip with his wife Claire (Mathilde Seigner) and their three daughters to their rundown summer cottage and just by pure coincidence (???) Michel meets someone he went to school with: Harry (Sergi López). In a matter of minutes the eager to please and modest Michel is already feeding into Harry's plans for him. Michel and his wife Claire let Harry and his girlfriend Plum accompany them to their summer home which they are renovating. Almost immediately you are stunned by the fact that Harry buys Michel and his family a SUV seemingly without wanting anything in return. Things do move in the first hour--but they don't move too fast. The director, Dominik Moll, makes sure that the scenes, acting and music slowly set you up for a creepy thriller roller coaster even if during the beginning there isn't a cloud in the sky.
Predictably, it's not long after Harry shows up (really just a few days in the film) that things in Michel's family begin to go horribly wrong. People drop like flies and eventually even Michel himself begins to have his doubts about Harry. Harry claims he just wants Michel to write again unencumbered by the stresses of his family responsibilities (the three girls, his wife). Is it that simple?
We never get a definitive answer to that question. Harry, of course, is a psychopath madly obsessed with Michel and Michel's writing. Is Harry planning to ultimately kill Michel after other people have died? Why does Harry continue to come by even after Claire's visit to him in the hotel where Harry is staying with his girlfriend Plum? We never really know with any certainty. In addition, I like the point one reviewer makes when they write that Michel's dislike of the SUV could represent French disdain for Americans. Is this absolutely clear in the movie? Of course not.
And therein lies the immense power of this film. The fact that we never know the answers to so many questions increases the power of the film exponentially: not unlike a piece of abstract modern art, Harry, Michel, Claire, Plum, and the others can be viewed differently by different viewers and still have meaning. Every viewer may interpret events and people as they personally wish them to be. Awesome!
The convincing acting stuns me; I even had goose bumps at one key point in the movie! The cinematography shines its best with the panoramic vistas of the French countryside; and the choreography doesn't falter once.
The DVD comes with few extras besides some unrelated previews for other movies; this is a disappointment but the brilliant film glows so brightly that I will forgive this disappointment.
In short, With A Friend Like Harry gives its audience a five star, first rate thriller. I disagree with others who say that there's comedy in the movie--the "creepiness factor" is so high from the very beginning that I focused on that alone.
I highly recommend this film for anyone who likes thriller movies with their inevitable plot twists and unexpected turns. I hope that you get this film, savor it and think about it for some while to come.
Hitchcock wannabe.......2007-06-03
This movie was too "in-your-face" to be a thriller.
It lacked any finesse. It was not polished and in the end, I felt a little cheated.
I have many of the movies done by Alfred Hitchcock & David Mamet. I find their movies well directed and have some genuine tense moments that leave you guessing what's going to happen next.
This movie however is about as subtle as a kick in the groin. The acting is passable but certainly not as enjoyable as a Hitchcock or Mamet movie.
mind-bending, creepy, highly entertaining.......2006-11-17
I saw this movie in the theatre the first time and was totally confused as to the Harry character. After reading reviews and watching it again many years later, I'd agree that the Harry character is supposed to represent the id or dark side of Michel's personality. Those evil impulses that everyone has and suppresses either because they want to or have to are in this story personified in Harry. Harry goes on to act out these evil impulses.
Some clues: Michel first meets Harry while looking at his reflection in the mirror. Michel's conversations at night in the kitchen with Harry sound like a guy debating conflicting ideas in his own head. No one comes looking for Harry and Plum at the end. By the movie's end it seems that Michel has sold himself out or given in to his dark side in some way - I guess that's the main point.
Very entertaining.
We Need More "Friend"s Like This.......2005-04-14
Michel and his wife are making their annual trek to a rural farmhouse they purchased a few years ago in the French countryside. Every summer, they spend their vacation there, fixing it up. Their three young girls sit in the back seat of the hot car, complaining, crying and venting their misery. Finally, Michel decides to stop at a gas station and freshen up. There, he runs into an old friend, Harry, whom he does not recognize, but Harry certainly recognizes him. Harry remembers the poem and short story Michel published in the school newspaper over twenty years ago. Harry invites himself to their farmhouse for a drink. Harry and his girlfriend, Plum, soon become guests. Slowly, they learn about Michel and Sophie's life. Harry, financially well-off, decides to buy them an air conditioned SUV.
"With A Friend Like Harry", the new French film released by Miramax Zoe in the United States, is a very interesting, fun film.
Virtually every newspaper ad for the film quotes a reviewer who compares the film to Hitchcock's works. Comparing a film to a classic is always a tricky concept. Comparing a film to the work of someone as revered as Hitchcock usually illicits snickers and derision. "With A Friend Like Harry" is the first film I have seen in some time that is worthy of such comparisons. It isn't as good as Hitchcock's best, or even his good, but it does reach for the same level of suspense that Hitchcock was able to achieve over and over again.
"Harry" also relies on the same suspension of belief that Hitchcock relied on frequently. Can a man mistake a woman that he had an intimate relationship with simply because she has changed her hair color? Can a man solve a murder while bound to a wheelchair in his apartment? Can a man survive a cross country hunt? In "Harry" we have to believe that a man will recognize a classmate after twenty years and feel strongly enough about him to help him change his life. The actor playing Harry, Sergio Lopez, reveals the layers of his character in a very restrained manner. Slowly, we realize that the character is deranged and psychotic, but we don't learn this from a foaming mouth or long diatribes.
The actor playing Michel is also very good. He brings a quiet desperation to the role. He is a family man who has never realized his dreams, but he knows that he now has responsibilities and carries on.
The rustic French farmhouse is an ideal location. A bit surrealistic, it allows the characters to act differently toward one another. Slowly, as Michel changes, he seeks solitude in the newly remodeled bathroom, a pink horror that his parents have commissioned in the little farmhouse.
"With A Friend Like Harry" is a very good, very suspenseful, enjoyable and, at times, funny film.
Amazon.com
It takes nearly an hour for anything unusual to happen in With a Friend Like Harry, but that first hour is oddly unsettling. German filmmaker Dominik Moll reveals the trouble with Harry (Sergi López) with low-key precision, his thriller sensibility channeled from Hitchcock through Claude Chabrol, while emphasizing casual conversation in the style of Eric Rohmer. Harry's found Michel (Laurent Lucas) in a public restroom, identifying himself as an old schoolmate who remembers far too much about Michel, even though Michel has no recollection of Harry at all. But Harry's an ingratiating type, and nice enough on the surface, so Michel invites Harry and his girlfriend, Plum (Sophie Guillemin), to the summer cottage he's renovating with his wife, Claire (Mathilde Seigner), and their three young daughters. The Spanish actor López (from An Affair of Love) modulates his performance so carefully that Harry's psychosis--never explained, but strangely compelling--reverberates well beyond the film's shocking conclusion. It turns out Harry's been a helpful friend after all, but that's cold comfort in a film that warns us against the kindness of strangers. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews:
With a Friend Like Harry.......2007-07-30
An intelligent and unsettling domestic thriller, Moll's "Harry" turns a man's frustrated writerly ambitions and confused existence into grist for another's twisted--and ultimately homicidal--handiwork. The suspense hinges partly on how Harry's logic-warping speeches to Michel fuse the psychology of self-realization with psychotic rationalization. Quietly dispatching anything standing in the way of Michel's long-suppressed dreams, Lopez inhabits the role of sinister motivational expert with dark charisma. Wickedly entertaining, with a perversely humorous kick, "Harry" is a troubled house guest you won't mind entertaining.
fine, ambiguous thriller.......2007-07-30
With A Friend Like Harry is one of those exceptionally well done thrillers that demonstrates a certain artistic quality that so many poorly made, mass produced thriller movies lack. The convincing acting, the weird plot developments and the stress everyone seems to be under in this film make it a true thriller masterpiece.
The movie begins its creepy quality from almost the beginning of the film. Imagine! Michel (Laurent Lucas) is on a trip with his wife Claire (Mathilde Seigner) and their three daughters to their rundown summer cottage and just by pure coincidence (???) Michel meets someone he went to school with: Harry (Sergi López). In a matter of minutes the eager to please and modest Michel is already feeding into Harry's plans for him. Michel and his wife Claire let Harry and his girlfriend Plum accompany them to their summer home which they are renovating. Almost immediately you are stunned by the fact that Harry buys Michel and his family a SUV seemingly without wanting anything in return. Things do move in the first hour--but they don't move too fast. The director, Dominik Moll, makes sure that the scenes, acting and music slowly set you up for a creepy thriller roller coaster even if during the beginning there isn't a cloud in the sky.
Predictably, it's not long after Harry shows up (really just a few days in the film) that things in Michel's family begin to go horribly wrong. People drop like flies and eventually even Michel himself begins to have his doubts about Harry. Harry claims he just wants Michel to write again unencumbered by the stresses of his family responsibilities (the three girls, his wife). Is it that simple?
We never get a definitive answer to that question. Harry, of course, is a psychopath madly obsessed with Michel and Michel's writing. Is Harry planning to ultimately kill Michel after other people have died? Why does Harry continue to come by even after Claire's visit to him in the hotel where Harry is staying with his girlfriend Plum? We never really know with any certainty. In addition, I like the point one reviewer makes when they write that Michel's dislike of the SUV could represent French disdain for Americans. Is this absolutely clear in the movie? Of course not.
And therein lies the immense power of this film. The fact that we never know the answers to so many questions increases the power of the film exponentially: not unlike a piece of abstract modern art, Harry, Michel, Claire, Plum, and the others can be viewed differently by different viewers and still have meaning. Every viewer may interpret events and people as they personally wish them to be. Awesome!
The convincing acting stuns me; I even had goose bumps at one key point in the movie! The cinematography shines its best with the panoramic vistas of the French countryside; and the choreography doesn't falter once.
The DVD comes with few extras besides some unrelated previews for other movies; this is a disappointment but the brilliant film glows so brightly that I will forgive this disappointment.
In short, With A Friend Like Harry gives its audience a five star, first rate thriller. I disagree with others who say that there's comedy in the movie--the "creepiness factor" is so high from the very beginning that I focused on that alone.
I highly recommend this film for anyone who likes thriller movies with their inevitable plot twists and unexpected turns. I hope that you get this film, savor it and think about it for some while to come.
Hitchcock wannabe.......2007-06-03
This movie was too "in-your-face" to be a thriller.
It lacked any finesse. It was not polished and in the end, I felt a little cheated.
I have many of the movies done by Alfred Hitchcock & David Mamet. I find their movies well directed and have some genuine tense moments that leave you guessing what's going to happen next.
This movie however is about as subtle as a kick in the groin. The acting is passable but certainly not as enjoyable as a Hitchcock or Mamet movie.
mind-bending, creepy, highly entertaining.......2006-11-17
I saw this movie in the theatre the first time and was totally confused as to the Harry character. After reading reviews and watching it again many years later, I'd agree that the Harry character is supposed to represent the id or dark side of Michel's personality. Those evil impulses that everyone has and suppresses either because they want to or have to are in this story personified in Harry. Harry goes on to act out these evil impulses.
Some clues: Michel first meets Harry while looking at his reflection in the mirror. Michel's conversations at night in the kitchen with Harry sound like a guy debating conflicting ideas in his own head. No one comes looking for Harry and Plum at the end. By the movie's end it seems that Michel has sold himself out or given in to his dark side in some way - I guess that's the main point.
Very entertaining.
We Need More "Friend"s Like This.......2005-04-14
Michel and his wife are making their annual trek to a rural farmhouse they purchased a few years ago in the French countryside. Every summer, they spend their vacation there, fixing it up. Their three young girls sit in the back seat of the hot car, complaining, crying and venting their misery. Finally, Michel decides to stop at a gas station and freshen up. There, he runs into an old friend, Harry, whom he does not recognize, but Harry certainly recognizes him. Harry remembers the poem and short story Michel published in the school newspaper over twenty years ago. Harry invites himself to their farmhouse for a drink. Harry and his girlfriend, Plum, soon become guests. Slowly, they learn about Michel and Sophie's life. Harry, financially well-off, decides to buy them an air conditioned SUV.
"With A Friend Like Harry", the new French film released by Miramax Zoe in the United States, is a very interesting, fun film.
Virtually every newspaper ad for the film quotes a reviewer who compares the film to Hitchcock's works. Comparing a film to a classic is always a tricky concept. Comparing a film to the work of someone as revered as Hitchcock usually illicits snickers and derision. "With A Friend Like Harry" is the first film I have seen in some time that is worthy of such comparisons. It isn't as good as Hitchcock's best, or even his good, but it does reach for the same level of suspense that Hitchcock was able to achieve over and over again.
"Harry" also relies on the same suspension of belief that Hitchcock relied on frequently. Can a man mistake a woman that he had an intimate relationship with simply because she has changed her hair color? Can a man solve a murder while bound to a wheelchair in his apartment? Can a man survive a cross country hunt? In "Harry" we have to believe that a man will recognize a classmate after twenty years and feel strongly enough about him to help him change his life. The actor playing Harry, Sergio Lopez, reveals the layers of his character in a very restrained manner. Slowly, we realize that the character is deranged and psychotic, but we don't learn this from a foaming mouth or long diatribes.
The actor playing Michel is also very good. He brings a quiet desperation to the role. He is a family man who has never realized his dreams, but he knows that he now has responsibilities and carries on.
The rustic French farmhouse is an ideal location. A bit surrealistic, it allows the characters to act differently toward one another. Slowly, as Michel changes, he seeks solitude in the newly remodeled bathroom, a pink horror that his parents have commissioned in the little farmhouse.
"With A Friend Like Harry" is a very good, very suspenseful, enjoyable and, at times, funny film.
Amazon.com
It takes nearly an hour for anything unusual to happen in With a Friend Like Harry, but that first hour is oddly unsettling. German filmmaker Dominik Moll reveals the trouble with Harry (Sergi López) with low-key precision, his thriller sensibility channeled from Hitchcock through Claude Chabrol, while emphasizing casual conversation in the style of Eric Rohmer. Harry's found Michel (Laurent Lucas) in a public restroom, identifying himself as an old schoolmate who remembers far too much about Michel, even though Michel has no recollection of Harry at all. But Harry's an ingratiating type, and nice enough on the surface, so Michel invites Harry and his girlfriend, Plum (Sophie Guillemin), to the summer cottage he's renovating with his wife, Claire (Mathilde Seigner), and their three young daughters. The Spanish actor López (from An Affair of Love) modulates his performance so carefully that Harry's psychosis--never explained, but strangely compelling--reverberates well beyond the film's shocking conclusion. It turns out Harry's been a helpful friend after all, but that's cold comfort in a film that warns us against the kindness of strangers. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews:
With a Friend Like Harry.......2007-07-30
An intelligent and unsettling domestic thriller, Moll's "Harry" turns a man's frustrated writerly ambitions and confused existence into grist for another's twisted--and ultimately homicidal--handiwork. The suspense hinges partly on how Harry's logic-warping speeches to Michel fuse the psychology of self-realization with psychotic rationalization. Quietly dispatching anything standing in the way of Michel's long-suppressed dreams, Lopez inhabits the role of sinister motivational expert with dark charisma. Wickedly entertaining, with a perversely humorous kick, "Harry" is a troubled house guest you won't mind entertaining.
fine, ambiguous thriller.......2007-07-30
With A Friend Like Harry is one of those exceptionally well done thrillers that demonstrates a certain artistic quality that so many poorly made, mass produced thriller movies lack. The convincing acting, the weird plot developments and the stress everyone seems to be under in this film make it a true thriller masterpiece.
The movie begins its creepy quality from almost the beginning of the film. Imagine! Michel (Laurent Lucas) is on a trip with his wife Claire (Mathilde Seigner) and their three daughters to their rundown summer cottage and just by pure coincidence (???) Michel meets someone he went to school with: Harry (Sergi López). In a matter of minutes the eager to please and modest Michel is already feeding into Harry's plans for him. Michel and his wife Claire let Harry and his girlfriend Plum accompany them to their summer home which they are renovating. Almost immediately you are stunned by the fact that Harry buys Michel and his family a SUV seemingly without wanting anything in return. Things do move in the first hour--but they don't move too fast. The director, Dominik Moll, makes sure that the scenes, acting and music slowly set you up for a creepy thriller roller coaster even if during the beginning there isn't a cloud in the sky.
Predictably, it's not long after Harry shows up (really just a few days in the film) that things in Michel's family begin to go horribly wrong. People drop like flies and eventually even Michel himself begins to have his doubts about Harry. Harry claims he just wants Michel to write again unencumbered by the stresses of his family responsibilities (the three girls, his wife). Is it that simple?
We never get a definitive answer to that question. Harry, of course, is a psychopath madly obsessed with Michel and Michel's writing. Is Harry planning to ultimately kill Michel after other people have died? Why does Harry continue to come by even after Claire's visit to him in the hotel where Harry is staying with his girlfriend Plum? We never really know with any certainty. In addition, I like the point one reviewer makes when they write that Michel's dislike of the SUV could represent French disdain for Americans. Is this absolutely clear in the movie? Of course not.
And therein lies the immense power of this film. The fact that we never know the answers to so many questions increases the power of the film exponentially: not unlike a piece of abstract modern art, Harry, Michel, Claire, Plum, and the others can be viewed differently by different viewers and still have meaning. Every viewer may interpret events and people as they personally wish them to be. Awesome!
The convincing acting stuns me; I even had goose bumps at one key point in the movie! The cinematography shines its best with the panoramic vistas of the French countryside; and the choreography doesn't falter once.
The DVD comes with few extras besides some unrelated previews for other movies; this is a disappointment but the brilliant film glows so brightly that I will forgive this disappointment.
In short, With A Friend Like Harry gives its audience a five star, first rate thriller. I disagree with others who say that there's comedy in the movie--the "creepiness factor" is so high from the very beginning that I focused on that alone.
I highly recommend this film for anyone who likes thriller movies with their inevitable plot twists and unexpected turns. I hope that you get this film, savor it and think about it for some while to come.
Hitchcock wannabe.......2007-06-03
This movie was too "in-your-face" to be a thriller.
It lacked any finesse. It was not polished and in the end, I felt a little cheated.
I have many of the movies done by Alfred Hitchcock & David Mamet. I find their movies well directed and have some genuine tense moments that leave you guessing what's going to happen next.
This movie however is about as subtle as a kick in the groin. The acting is passable but certainly not as enjoyable as a Hitchcock or Mamet movie.
mind-bending, creepy, highly entertaining.......2006-11-17
I saw this movie in the theatre the first time and was totally confused as to the Harry character. After reading reviews and watching it again many years later, I'd agree that the Harry character is supposed to represent the id or dark side of Michel's personality. Those evil impulses that everyone has and suppresses either because they want to or have to are in this story personified in Harry. Harry goes on to act out these evil impulses.
Some clues: Michel first meets Harry while looking at his reflection in the mirror. Michel's conversations at night in the kitchen with Harry sound like a guy debating conflicting ideas in his own head. No one comes looking for Harry and Plum at the end. By the movie's end it seems that Michel has sold himself out or given in to his dark side in some way - I guess that's the main point.
Very entertaining.
We Need More "Friend"s Like This.......2005-04-14
Michel and his wife are making their annual trek to a rural farmhouse they purchased a few years ago in the French countryside. Every summer, they spend their vacation there, fixing it up. Their three young girls sit in the back seat of the hot car, complaining, crying and venting their misery. Finally, Michel decides to stop at a gas station and freshen up. There, he runs into an old friend, Harry, whom he does not recognize, but Harry certainly recognizes him. Harry remembers the poem and short story Michel published in the school newspaper over twenty years ago. Harry invites himself to their farmhouse for a drink. Harry and his girlfriend, Plum, soon become guests. Slowly, they learn about Michel and Sophie's life. Harry, financially well-off, decides to buy them an air conditioned SUV.
"With A Friend Like Harry", the new French film released by Miramax Zoe in the United States, is a very interesting, fun film.
Virtually every newspaper ad for the film quotes a reviewer who compares the film to Hitchcock's works. Comparing a film to a classic is always a tricky concept. Comparing a film to the work of someone as revered as Hitchcock usually illicits snickers and derision. "With A Friend Like Harry" is the first film I have seen in some time that is worthy of such comparisons. It isn't as good as Hitchcock's best, or even his good, but it does reach for the same level of suspense that Hitchcock was able to achieve over and over again.
"Harry" also relies on the same suspension of belief that Hitchcock relied on frequently. Can a man mistake a woman that he had an intimate relationship with simply because she has changed her hair color? Can a man solve a murder while bound to a wheelchair in his apartment? Can a man survive a cross country hunt? In "Harry" we have to believe that a man will recognize a classmate after twenty years and feel strongly enough about him to help him change his life. The actor playing Harry, Sergio Lopez, reveals the layers of his character in a very restrained manner. Slowly, we realize that the character is deranged and psychotic, but we don't learn this from a foaming mouth or long diatribes.
The actor playing Michel is also very good. He brings a quiet desperation to the role. He is a family man who has never realized his dreams, but he knows that he now has responsibilities and carries on.
The rustic French farmhouse is an ideal location. A bit surrealistic, it allows the characters to act differently toward one another. Slowly, as Michel changes, he seeks solitude in the newly remodeled bathroom, a pink horror that his parents have commissioned in the little farmhouse.
"With A Friend Like Harry" is a very good, very suspenseful, enjoyable and, at times, funny film.
Amazon.com
It takes nearly an hour for anything unusual to happen in With a Friend Like Harry, but that first hour is oddly unsettling. German filmmaker Dominik Moll reveals the trouble with Harry (Sergi López) with low-key precision, his thriller sensibility channeled from Hitchcock through Claude Chabrol, while emphasizing casual conversation in the style of Eric Rohmer. Harry's found Michel (Laurent Lucas) in a public restroom, identifying himself as an old schoolmate who remembers far too much about Michel, even though Michel has no recollection of Harry at all. But Harry's an ingratiating type, and nice enough on the surface, so Michel invites Harry and his girlfriend, Plum (Sophie Guillemin), to the summer cottage he's renovating with his wife, Claire (Mathilde Seigner), and their three young daughters. The Spanish actor López (from An Affair of Love) modulates his performance so carefully that Harry's psychosis--never explained, but strangely compelling--reverberates well beyond the film's shocking conclusion. It turns out Harry's been a helpful friend after all, but that's cold comfort in a film that warns us against the kindness of strangers. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews:
With a Friend Like Harry.......2007-07-30
An intelligent and unsettling domestic thriller, Moll's "Harry" turns a man's frustrated writerly ambitions and confused existence into grist for another's twisted--and ultimately homicidal--handiwork. The suspense hinges partly on how Harry's logic-warping speeches to Michel fuse the psychology of self-realization with psychotic rationalization. Quietly dispatching anything standing in the way of Michel's long-suppressed dreams, Lopez inhabits the role of sinister motivational expert with dark charisma. Wickedly entertaining, with a perversely humorous kick, "Harry" is a troubled house guest you won't mind entertaining.
fine, ambiguous thriller.......2007-07-30
With A Friend Like Harry is one of those exceptionally well done thrillers that demonstrates a certain artistic quality that so many poorly made, mass produced thriller movies lack. The convincing acting, the weird plot developments and the stress everyone seems to be under in this film make it a true thriller masterpiece.
The movie begins its creepy quality from almost the beginning of the film. Imagine! Michel (Laurent Lucas) is on a trip with his wife Claire (Mathilde Seigner) and their three daughters to their rundown summer cottage and just by pure coincidence (???) Michel meets someone he went to school with: Harry (Sergi López). In a matter of minutes the eager to please and modest Michel is already feeding into Harry's plans for him. Michel and his wife Claire let Harry and his girlfriend Plum accompany them to their summer home which they are renovating. Almost immediately you are stunned by the fact that Harry buys Michel and his family a SUV seemingly without wanting anything in return. Things do move in the first hour--but they don't move too fast. The director, Dominik Moll, makes sure that the scenes, acting and music slowly set you up for a creepy thriller roller coaster even if during the beginning there isn't a cloud in the sky.
Predictably, it's not long after Harry shows up (really just a few days in the film) that things in Michel's family begin to go horribly wrong. People drop like flies and eventually even Michel himself begins to have his doubts about Harry. Harry claims he just wants Michel to write again unencumbered by the stresses of his family responsibilities (the three girls, his wife). Is it that simple?
We never get a definitive answer to that question. Harry, of course, is a psychopath madly obsessed with Michel and Michel's writing. Is Harry planning to ultimately kill Michel after other people have died? Why does Harry continue to come by even after Claire's visit to him in the hotel where Harry is staying with his girlfriend Plum? We never really know with any certainty. In addition, I like the point one reviewer makes when they write that Michel's dislike of the SUV could represent French disdain for Americans. Is this absolutely clear in the movie? Of course not.
And therein lies the immense power of this film. The fact that we never know the answers to so many questions increases the power of the film exponentially: not unlike a piece of abstract modern art, Harry, Michel, Claire, Plum, and the others can be viewed differently by different viewers and still have meaning. Every viewer may interpret events and people as they personally wish them to be. Awesome!
The convincing acting stuns me; I even had goose bumps at one key point in the movie! The cinematography shines its best with the panoramic vistas of the French countryside; and the choreography doesn't falter once.
The DVD comes with few extras besides some unrelated previews for other movies; this is a disappointment but the brilliant film glows so brightly that I will forgive this disappointment.
In short, With A Friend Like Harry gives its audience a five star, first rate thriller. I disagree with others who say that there's comedy in the movie--the "creepiness factor" is so high from the very beginning that I focused on that alone.
I highly recommend this film for anyone who likes thriller movies with their inevitable plot twists and unexpected turns. I hope that you get this film, savor it and think about it for some while to come.
Hitchcock wannabe.......2007-06-03
This movie was too "in-your-face" to be a thriller.
It lacked any finesse. It was not polished and in the end, I felt a little cheated.
I have many of the movies done by Alfred Hitchcock & David Mamet. I find their movies well directed and have some genuine tense moments that leave you guessing what's going to happen next.
This movie however is about as subtle as a kick in the groin. The acting is passable but certainly not as enjoyable as a Hitchcock or Mamet movie.
mind-bending, creepy, highly entertaining.......2006-11-17
I saw this movie in the theatre the first time and was totally confused as to the Harry character. After reading reviews and watching it again many years later, I'd agree that the Harry character is supposed to represent the id or dark side of Michel's personality. Those evil impulses that everyone has and suppresses either because they want to or have to are in this story personified in Harry. Harry goes on to act out these evil impulses.
Some clues: Michel first meets Harry while looking at his reflection in the mirror. Michel's conversations at night in the kitchen with Harry sound like a guy debating conflicting ideas in his own head. No one comes looking for Harry and Plum at the end. By the movie's end it seems that Michel has sold himself out or given in to his dark side in some way - I guess that's the main point.
Very entertaining.
We Need More "Friend"s Like This.......2005-04-14
Michel and his wife are making their annual trek to a rural farmhouse they purchased a few years ago in the French countryside. Every summer, they spend their vacation there, fixing it up. Their three young girls sit in the back seat of the hot car, complaining, crying and venting their misery. Finally, Michel decides to stop at a gas station and freshen up. There, he runs into an old friend, Harry, whom he does not recognize, but Harry certainly recognizes him. Harry remembers the poem and short story Michel published in the school newspaper over twenty years ago. Harry invites himself to their farmhouse for a drink. Harry and his girlfriend, Plum, soon become guests. Slowly, they learn about Michel and Sophie's life. Harry, financially well-off, decides to buy them an air conditioned SUV.
"With A Friend Like Harry", the new French film released by Miramax Zoe in the United States, is a very interesting, fun film.
Virtually every newspaper ad for the film quotes a reviewer who compares the film to Hitchcock's works. Comparing a film to a classic is always a tricky concept. Comparing a film to the work of someone as revered as Hitchcock usually illicits snickers and derision. "With A Friend Like Harry" is the first film I have seen in some time that is worthy of such comparisons. It isn't as good as Hitchcock's best, or even his good, but it does reach for the same level of suspense that Hitchcock was able to achieve over and over again.
"Harry" also relies on the same suspension of belief that Hitchcock relied on frequently. Can a man mistake a woman that he had an intimate relationship with simply because she has changed her hair color? Can a man solve a murder while bound to a wheelchair in his apartment? Can a man survive a cross country hunt? In "Harry" we have to believe that a man will recognize a classmate after twenty years and feel strongly enough about him to help him change his life. The actor playing Harry, Sergio Lopez, reveals the layers of his character in a very restrained manner. Slowly, we realize that the character is deranged and psychotic, but we don't learn this from a foaming mouth or long diatribes.
The actor playing Michel is also very good. He brings a quiet desperation to the role. He is a family man who has never realized his dreams, but he knows that he now has responsibilities and carries on.
The rustic French farmhouse is an ideal location. A bit surrealistic, it allows the characters to act differently toward one another. Slowly, as Michel changes, he seeks solitude in the newly remodeled bathroom, a pink horror that his parents have commissioned in the little farmhouse.
"With A Friend Like Harry" is a very good, very suspenseful, enjoyable and, at times, funny film.
DVD:
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DVD
DVD
![With a Friend Like Harry... [Region 2]](http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/214RJE46V6L.jpg)
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