My Review of Heartbeats (2010)

 

Written And Directed by Xavier Dolan 

Francis: "I love you. I really want to kiss you. I don't know why I'm telling you this."

Last week, I finally watched I Killed My Mother and I thought it was an impressive debut from Canadian director, Xavier Dolan. This follow up certainly proved that he wasn't a one trick pony.

Once again, Dolan cast himself in a lead role and tbh, I kind of like that he's cast himself as characters that while not entirely likable, they can at least merit a decent amount of sympathy for them.

In this one, he's playing the role of Francis. Francis and his friend Marie (Monia Chokri) were at a dinner party with other friends when Nicolas (Niels Schneider) came into their orbit. Both Francis and Marie were taken by Nicolas and both were determined to get him.

There's a fun, passive aggressive way in which both Francis and Marie pursued Nicolas throughout the movie. Both tried to derail the other and both got their moments with the curly haired guy. Nicolas also seemed to be egging both Francis and Marie on as the movie progressed.

There's a whole segment where the three of them ended up at the vacation home of Nicolas's aunt. For a guy who was happy to make Francis eating a marshmallow into seduction play, even I was a tad surprised when Nicolas eventually spurned his advances. Oh and Marie didn't get lucky with him either.

I guess the lesson to be learned here would be that it's never a good idea to be friends with someone who shares the same taste in men. This however would be a lesson that both Francis and Marie would fail to learn if that last scene was anything to go by.

- Anne Dorval had a small but amusing role as Désirée. Louis Garrel also played the party guest that both Francis and Marie lusted for at the end of this movie.

- There's also a scene with a cherry that's more effective than the marshmallow one.

- Standout music: Dalida's Bang Bang was used effectively a few times here.

- Chronology: It took place over the course of a year in Montréal.

Heartbeats (2010) was definitely a strong second director outing for Xavier Dolan. A fun and slightly complicated love triangle that temporarily frayed a friendship between two characters. I found this rather entertaining.

Rating: 7 out of 10