A Faithful Man

This 2018 Rom-com from writer – director Louis Garrel, who also stars, had a short US theatrical run in the Summer of 2019 and is now available to stream on numerous platforms including Amazon Prime and YouTube.  Garrel, who was introduced to American Audiences as the lucky guy who marries Jo March in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, gets right to business with an opening scene in which his character’s live in girlfriend of 3 years not only dumps him while he’s on his way out the door to work – but also tells him that she’s pregnant with the child of his best friend Paul – with whom she confesses she’s been having an affair for the past year and will be marrying in a matter of days.  Dang – you’d think that would be cause for a scene but Abel, as played by Garrel, just goes off in a daze.  After this amusing set-up, the action resumes 10 years later with the untimely death of Paul – who the audience never sees.  Abel and his ex – Marianne, played by Garrel’s real life wife, Supermodel Laetitia Casta, are thrown back together at Paul’s funeral and resume their relationship, but not without a few hitches.  For one, Paul’s younger sister Eve, played by Lily-Rose Depp, has been harboring an obsessive crush on Abel since she was a girl and intends to have him.  More interestingly Paul and Marianne’s son Joseph, who may actually be Abel’s son, believes that his mother murdered Paul by poisoning him.  The premise, while rather silly, is well conceived.  The love triangle, the Paris setting and the voiceover throughout all evoke Truffaut and the film has some of the charm of an Antoine Doinel pic.  Ultimately though the wacky ride suggested by the set-up never arrives and the film fails to deliver.  Abel never snaps out of his daze and we wonder what the ladies see in him.  My wife assures me that there’s no cause for wonder though as Garrel’s charms are apparent.  He’s a handsome guy with an interesting screen presence and he can write and direct.  He also happens to be French entertainment industry royalty.  His father is the New wave director Philippe Garrel, who I know as the former lover of Nico and the maker of more unwatchable films than I can count, and his grandfather was well-known actor Maurice Garrel.  Considering Lily-Rose Depp’s similar royal status and the participation of Garrel’s wife as co-star, A Faithful Man exemplifies the French film industry’s remarkable level of nepotism.  I don’t begrudge the film for this though as it’s an amusing enough distraction that delivers some Gallic charm without asking much of the audience.  At only 75 minutes long its perfect for a night in with a glass of wine and lights out by 10:30.