Film review: Get Well Soon

Well, the production designer must have been over the moon when handed the script for Get Well Soon.

 

GET WELL SOON

Director: Jean Becker
Cast: Gerard Lanvin, Fred Testot, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Swann Arlaud, Daniel Guichard, Anne-Sophie Lapix
Rating: (M)
Three and a half stars (out of five)

 

With barely a shot outside the confines of a hospital room, this whimsical French comedy has a real task creating enough twists and turns to keep the audience tuned in.

Fortunately, clever dialogue and wonderfully wry performances create a charming feel-good tale about random acquaintances and life lessons.

After being dragged unconscious out of the Seine, ageing Parisian bachelor Pierre (Gerard Lanvin) wakes up in hospital with a severely broken leg and no recollection.

Cantankerous and annoyed his loner existence has been suddenly shaken up, Pierre finds his hospital room soon hosts friends, family and hospital staff calling on him at all hours.

As the template for this style of film dictates, Pierre will gradually let his visitors penetrate his tetchy persona and in the process rediscover his zest for life.

Director Jean Becker (My Afternoons with Marguerite and Conversations with My Gardner) has form in this environment and it's his pacing that keep the format feeling fresh.

Likewise, Lanvin performs his role superbly.

Perfectly cast for his rough exterior and the lifelines etched like crevices across his face, Lanvin makes you really believe he doesn't give a damn if no-one visits.

Get Well Soon will appeal to an audience familiar with the perils of ageing and looking for 80 minutes of amusing escapism.

- Mark Orton 

Add a Comment