OUR DAY WILL COME (NOTRE JOUR VIENDRA)
Directed by: Romain Gavras
Written by: Romain Gavras and Karin Bouckercha
Starring: Vincent Cassel, and Olivier Barthelemy
Synopsis: A couple of disgruntled redheads make their way to Ireland hoping to find some peace.
Most road trip-style films have a tendency of being wacky adventures where two hilariously mismatched individuals learn some life lessons while trying to reach a specific geographic location. OUR DAY WILL COME is not one of those wacky adventures, but rather a compelling drama about two very sick individuals just trying to figure life out.
Rémy (Barthelemy) is constantly getting picked on by everyone in his life. His mother is indifferent, and his sister constantly teases him. He's a reclusive type that plays World of Warcraft (this film was originally made in 2010) and hasn't really had much experience with girls. Patrick (Cassel) is a psychiatrist who seems to be completely detached from life. When we meet him, one of his patients, who is bearing her soul about her pregnancy, her drug addiction and money problems, asks for his opinions. He stars blankly at her after messing with a bag of chips and asks, "Well, do you think that a kid will help with your drug problem?" He has a constantly vacant look in his eyes. So of course, Rémy and Patrick meet one night, and Patrick takes Remy under his wing to help him out.
It feels that the movie is not concerned much with "logic" or "details". Things just happen, you accept them, and then move on. What starts out as a night of meeting of a "girl" Rémy has been talking to on WoW, turns into a road trip to Ireland to be among other redheads. As many movies of this type, it's not the destination that matters but the journey and seeing the progression of the relationship of both of these men as they deal with their own issues. As is constantly alluded to, a big part of Rémy's rage issues seem to stem from some homosexual tendencies that he hasn't quite resolved yet which seems to be the main driving point for him. Patrick, whose motivations are never explained, appears to just want to escape his life.
Part of the joy, if you can call it that, about watching this movie is the fact that you're seeing a slow motion train wreck happening. As the duo fights and bickers their way to Ireland, their journey becomes increasingly violent with the addition of a crossbow. The biggest problem of the movie is that it can get repetitive to hear Patrick and Rémy call each other mean names and look increasingly disgruntled. You can only hear so much exasperated French before the second third of the movie just all feels the same.
The movies climax in Ireland feels like a different movie altogether with a strange TAXI DRIVER vibe where Patrick and Remy just completely lose it and rampage around the island trying to get back to France. Amidst the chaos, however, are some of best shots of the movie showing off some beautifully Irish countryside. Vincent Cassel has always proven himself to be a worthwhile addition to the movies he's in, but this time, his own role had to take a bit of a back seat to Barthelemy's Remy, whose adolescent rage and frustration take over the screen.
OUR DAY WILL COME is is not a movie for everyone. The characters are essentially sociopaths who have very few redeeming qualities, but if you can get past that, you get an impressive first effort by director Romain Gavras that shows you how NOT to deal with bad news or repressed feelings.
It's available iTunes now.
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