After watching this movie, I thought to myself that it was an interesting movie, and there were individual scenes which were strong. However, the pacing seemed to be a bit off, and somehow the flow of the video didn’t feel right. Then, I noticed that the version I saw was 95 minutes long, while the original version was 126 minutes long. That’s thirty whole minutes cut! As far as I’m concerned, this is criminal! Obviously, Miramax re-released this mpeg during early 1999 in order to cash in on Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Hurley. In the process, they cut the movie to shreds, and perhaps rearranged the scenes around to make it more “coherent.”

Garcon Stupide (Stupid Boy) is an emotionally-packed punch. The film and it’s lead character, Loic, had me hooked from the start. With the exception of a few slower scenes, I thoroughly enjoyed the film from start to finish. A few laughs, intense thought and emotion, and a few tears were generated from this well directed and acted film.The filming techniques and styles, and the soundtrack selections helped me score this film. The direction and unique filming combined with some classical scores and the storyline all fit perfectly together.The story itself follows the plight of Loic, a young handsome 20-year old who works in a chocolate factory by day, and entertains fellows of all ages by night for extra cash. In the film, he has a close loving friendship with a girl, Marie. He also develops a relationship of trust with a man he meets on the Internet, Lionel. The 2 never have sexual relations, just conversation about life. Something interesting to note: we never see Lionel. Or do we at the end? You decide.The story line develops around Loic’s desires to be someone - a photographer, a gay man, …? He seems to have lost direction in life, and is unable to trust/confide in the 2 people who seem to care for him most, Marie and Lionel. When Marie finds a boyfriend, you can clearly see the upset and anger in Loic. He withdraws from Marie, and Lionel, and neither situation has a positive outcome.In the meantime, he develops an infatuation of sorts with a local soccer player, who is successful, married and with child. Loic sees a life he wants for himself.Although this is a French film (with English subtitles), we have young people like Loic all over America. And we have adults who take advantage of them - and we have adults, like Lionel in this film, who truly can be a trusted friend. One of my favorite lines spoken by Lionel to Loic is “You can be interested in someone without wanting to f**k them”. This statement rings true for so many, both those near the age of 20, and those near the age of 40.This is overall, an exceptional film - very good acting, great soundtrack, unique camera angles and film styles, wonderful story, and well-directed.