Love Me If You Dare (Jeux d’enfants) | Review

Directorial debut offers love the hard way.

If it looks like (Amelie) and feels like it, then it must be as good. A French box-office hit of its own, this comedy with an original twist evokes the same flair as the France’s 2001 international hit. Director Yann Samuell’s first feature might have been inspired by the Audrey Tautou’s magical universe, but inside this tale of merciful imagery contains a film with a darker subtext which follows a course that is overtly tainted by its own charm.

Told through a child’s POV and then fast-forwarded into a complicated adult life, Samuell’s visual treat sees a pair of not-so-grown-up adult’s immersed in a fatalist, fantastical love story of fairytale proportions. Heavy on a Russian roulette formula, this unrealistic life-story sees a forged childhood relationship blossom from simple child’s play to a twisted game of “Cap ou pas Cap?” where the duo take turns in daring one another by the way of the possession of a colorful tin box. With a Head above Water denouement, the ante is interestingly pushed passed what one might consider a normal screen story. While the audibly beautiful shot showing the reaction of a school principle having his office carpet peed on is cute, the rest of the film tries on an Amelie suit in black that doesn’t quite fit. Once the two character’s eternal love is registered in the first sequence then the rest of the film comes across as a parade of how they will one-better themselves. Julien (Guillaume Canet) and Sophie (Marion Cotillard) are perfectly cast as confused grown-ups, the romantic tension between the two builds up in a merciless storyline that pushes the two past the deep-end.

Comparisons to Amelie have more to do with the playfulness in the image than the plot detail of a child’s world. With hovering camera shots, zippy special effects and a lush colorful cinematography this film comes across like a Baz Luhrmann production. With so much visual eye candy, Love Me if you Dare commands the viewer’s attention to fancy little numbers with dreamy sequences and cardboard cutouts, but while the film remains true to form from beginning to end it suffers from being overly exaggerated.

While Love Me if you Dare has got more punch than the norm, Samuell’s negates to fuse a sense that the film will give the viewer a little more to play with in the narrative. The ideas behind each game are more the issue here, which when merged together simply becomes a matter of how the final scene will top everything prior to. The final scene doesn’t disappoint but the rest of the film might capture your attention, just in a sporadic type of way.

Viewed in Original French language.

Rating 2.5 stars