I Love America | |
---|---|
Directed by | Lisa Azuelos |
Written by | Lisa Azuelos |
Produced by |
|
Starring |
|
Cinematography | Léo Hinstin |
Edited by | Baptiste Druot |
Music by | Rudy Mancuso |
Production company | Autopilot Entertainment |
Distributed by | Amazon Studios |
Release date |
|
Running time | 102 minutes |
Country | France |
Languages |
|
I Love America is a 2022 French comedy film written and directed by Lisa Azuelos, starring Sophie Marceau, Djanis Bouzyani and Colin Woodell. The film was released in France on 11 March 2022 on Prime Video.
Lisa, a 50-year-old filmmaker, leaves France to start a new life in Los Angeles. She stays with her gay friend Luka, who had moved to L.A. from France five years earlier and runs his own business, a drag queen bar. Immediately after her arrival, Lisa makes a brief return to Paris for the death of her mother. Back in L.A., she begins work on her new screenplay. After a meeting with a fortune teller, who tells her she is destined to lead a solitary life, Lisa embarks on a quest for sex without commitment and is guided by Luka, who sets up a dating-app account for her. After the first encounter ends badly, Lisa next meets John. Both appear to be into the relationship until John discovers from Lisa's passport that she is 50 years old when her profile on the app said she was younger (thanks to Luka's strategy for her when he set up her account). Eventually they reconnect when John invites her to meet him on her birthday, which he had discovered when he looked at her passport.
Parallel to and intertwined with Lisa's story is the story of Luka. He has unsuccessfully been seeking a more enduring relationship than his life of brief encounters, and by the end of the film he too connects with someone in a relationship that appears to hold promise.
Throughout the film, starting with the opening scene, are flashbacks to Lisa's childhood experiences of her parents (at ages four, eight, and twelve), offered as her reflections on her current issues and attitudes about love and relationships.
Many film critics offered reviews, some positive, some negative, and many somewhere in between:
Sophie Marceau is a French actress. As a teenager, she achieved popularity with her debut films La Boum (1980) and La Boum 2 (1982), receiving a César Award for Most Promising Actress. She became a film star in Europe with a string of successful films, including L'Étudiante (1988), Pacific Palisades (1990), Fanfan (1993) and Revenge of the Musketeers (1994). She became an international film star with her performances in Braveheart (1995), Firelight (1997), Anna Karenina (1997) and as Elektra King in the 19th James Bond film The World Is Not Enough (1999). Some of her later films tackle critical social issues such as Arrêtez-moi (2013), Jailbirds (2015) and Everything Went Fine (2021).
Speak to Me of Love is a 2002 French drama film written and directed by Sophie Marceau and starring Judith Godrèche, Niels Arestrup, and Anne Le Ny. The first feature-length motion picture directed by actress Sophie Marceau, the film is about the breakup of a long-term relationship. Speak to Me of Love was filmed on location in New York City and Paris. In 2002, the film received the Montréal World Film Festival Award for Best Director and was nominated for the Grand Prix des Amériques.
Alex & Emma is a 2003 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Rob Reiner and starring Kate Hudson and Luke Wilson. Written by Jeremy Leven, the film is about a writer who must publish a novel in thirty days or face the wrath of loan sharks.
Tessa Charlotte Rampling is an English actress. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, she began her career as a model. She was cast in the role of Meredith in the 1966 film Georgy Girl, which starred Lynn Redgrave. She soon began making French and Italian arthouse films, notably Luchino Visconti's The Damned (1969) and Liliana Cavani's The Night Porter (1974). She went on to star in many European and English-language films, including Stardust Memories (1980), The Verdict (1982), Long Live Life (1984), and The Wings of the Dove (1997). In the 2000s, she became the muse of French director François Ozon, appearing in several of his films, notably Swimming Pool (2003) and Young & Beautiful (2013). On television, she is known for her role as Dr. Evelyn Vogel in Dexter (2013).
Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre is a 2001 French fantasy film directed by Jean-Paul Salomé. It stars Sophie Marceau, Michel Serrault, Frédéric Diefenthal, and Julie Christie. It was written by Salomé, Danièle Thompson, and Jérôme Tonnerre. The 2001 film is about a mummy's spirit that possesses a woman (Marceau) in the Louvre. Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre was filmed on location at the Musée du Louvre, the first feature film to be shot in part inside the world-famous museum.
Jacoba Francisca Maria "Cobie" Smulders is a Canadian actress. She is known for her starring role as Robin Scherbatsky in the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother (2005–2014) and as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero franchise, starting with the film The Avengers (2012).
La Boum 2 is a 1982 French teen romantic comedy film directed by Claude Pinoteau and starring Claude Brasseur, Brigitte Fossey, and Sophie Marceau. Written by Danièle Thompson and Claude Pinoteau, the film is about a girl who falls in love with a boy and must deal with the question of making love for the first time. La Boum 2 is the sequel to 1980's La Boum. The music group Cook da Books became famous in many countries through their soundtrack song "Your Eyes". Like its predecessor, La Boum 2 was a financial success, earning 4,071,600 admissions in France. In 1983, the film received the César Award for Most Promising Actress, and was nominated for Best Music and Best Supporting Actress.
Anthony Zimmer is a 2005 French romantic thriller film written and directed by Jérôme Salle and starring Sophie Marceau, Yvan Attal, and Sami Frey. Set mainly in southern France, the film is about a highly intelligent criminal—pursued by international police and the Russian mafia—whose extensive plastic surgery makes him unrecognizable, even to his girlfriend, who enlists the help of an unsuspecting stranger on a train. The film was shot on location in Gare de Lyon in Paris 12, the Hôtel Carlton in Cannes, the Hôtel Negresco in Nice, Ibiza in the Balearic Islands, and on the TGV Paris-Nice train.
Letters to Juliet is a 2010 American romantic comedy-drama film starring Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Egan, Gael García Bernal, Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero. This was the final film of director Gary Winick before his death on February 27, 2011. The film was released theatrically in North America and other countries on May 14, 2010. The idea for the film was inspired by the 2006 non-fiction book Letters to Juliet, by Lise Eve Friedman and Ceil Jann Friedman, which chronicles the phenomenon of letter-writing to Shakespeare's most famous romantic character.
LOL (Laughing Out Loud) is a 2008 French comedy film directed by Lisa Azuelos and starring Sophie Marceau, Christa Theret, and Alexandre Astier. Written by Azuelos and Delgado Nans, the film is about a teenage girl whose life is split between her studies in a Parisian high school, her secret diary, her parents, her friends, and her boyfriends. Christa Theret received a César Award nomination for Most Promising Actress in 2010. The movie is heavily inspired by La Boum, which starred Marceau as the teenage character. After the film's great success, several actors from the cast took part in Fort Boyard in 2009, a French TV show aimed at raising money for an association.
Lisa Azuelos is a French director, writer, and producer. She is the daughter of singer Marie Laforêt.
Revenge of the Musketeers is a 1994 French swashbuckler adventure film directed by Bertrand Tavernier and starring Sophie Marceau, Philippe Noiret, Claude Rich, and Sami Frey. Set in the seventeenth century, the film is about the daughter of the renowned swordsman D'Artagnan who keeps the spirit of the Musketeers alive by bringing together the aging members of the legendary band to oppose a plot to overthrow the King and seize power. Revenge of the Musketeers was filmed on location at the Château de Biron in Biron, Dordogne and the Château de Maisons in Maisons-Laffitte in France and in Portugal with a budget of $9.1 million.
Marquise is a 1997 French dramatic film directed by Véra Belmont, and starring Sophie Marceau, Bernard Giraudeau, and Lambert Wilson. Written by Jean-François Josselin, Véra Belmont, Marcel Beaulieu and Gérard Mordillat, the film is about a dancer and actress, based on the historical actress Marquise-Thérèse de Gorla, who rises from obscurity to win the hearts of some of France's most prominent citizens, including Moliere, Racine, and King Louis XIV. She is helped in her career by a rotund comic, who falls in love with her, marries her, and brings her to Paris to launch her career. Despite her intimate involvement with other men, she keeps a special place in her heart reserved only for her unlikely spouse. Set in seventeenth century France, the film was shot on location in Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna, Italy, from September through December 1996.
The Assault is a 2010 French action thriller film directed by Julien Leclercq, based on the 1994 hijacking of Air France Flight 8969 by Algerian Islamic fundamentalist terrorists and the raid to free the hostages by the GIGN, the elite counter-terrorism unit of the French National Gendarmerie.
Happiness Never Comes Alone is a 2012 French romantic comedy film directed by James Huth and starring Gad Elmaleh, Sophie Marceau, and Maurice Barthélémy. Written by James Huth and Sonja Shillito, the film is about a young jazz musician who enjoys seducing young women. His carefree life of pleasure is interrupted when he meets an older woman with three children, two ex-husbands, and a thriving professional life, and the two, who have nothing in common, become involved in a romantic relationship.
Quantum Love is a 2014 French film written and directed by Lisa Azuelos and starring Sophie Marceau and François Cluzet.
Love at Second Sight is a 2019 French-Belgian romantic comedy film directed by Hugo Gélin, starring François Civil, Joséphine Japy and Benjamin Lavernhe. The film made its world premiere at the L'Alpe d'Huez Film Festival on 18 January 2019, where Civil received the Best Actor award. It was released theatrically in France by Mars Films on 3 April 2019. It won the Swann d'Or for Best Film at the 2019 Cabourg Film Festival. Benjamin Lavernhe was nominated for the César Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film.
Sveva Alviti is an Italian actress and former model who works in both Italian and French-language films.
Close is a 2022 coming-of-age drama film directed by Lukas Dhont, and written by Dhont and Angelo Tijssens, reteaming after their first feature film Girl (2018). The film stars Eden Dambrine, Gustav De Waele, Émilie Dequenne and Léa Drucker. It follows two teenage boys whose close friendship is thrown into disarray when their schoolmates notice their intimacy, causing a rift between them.
Crush is a 2022 American coming-of-age romantic comedy film directed by Sammi Cohen and written by Kirsten King and Casey Rackham. The film stars Rowan Blanchard and Auliʻi Cravalho in a story about a teenage girl joining her high-school track team to get closer to her crush, only to find herself falling in love with her crush's twin sister. Crush was released digitally on April 29, 2022, on Hulu.