Everyone’s a narrator with a story to tell in “A Faithful Man” (French: “L’homme fidèle”), a movie about love, loss, death, growing up, and the French being casual AF. Co-written, directed, and starring Louis Garrel, the film is steeped in uniquely European sensibilities, and while it doesn’t offend, the logic of the narrative, and the composition of the lead, hamstrings the effort.
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The picture opens in voiceover above urban Paris, where Abel (Garrel) explains that he thought he was living a good life until the day his girlfriend dumped him. This woman, Marianne (former supermodel Laetitia Casta and also, Garrel’s spouse), explains to Abel that she’s pregnant, but that their mutual friend Paul, not Abel, is the father. Abel takes the news well, especially considering it means he’ll have to move out of Marianne’s place in just a handful of days. Transitioning back to voiceover, Abel explains to the audience that he does his best to move on with his life in the ensuing years and that it’s not until Paul’s sudden death almost a decade later, that he comes into contact with Marianne again.
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“A Faithful Man” picks up at Paul’s funeral, where Marianne and Abel rekindle their friendship, much to the chagrin of Joseph (Joseph Engel), Marianne’s nine-year-old son. Young Joseph isn’t the only one disappointed in the reconstituted sparks flying between the old couple, as Eve (Lily-Rose Depp), Paul’s younger sister, has harbored a crush on Abel for most of her life. When questions begin to swirl about the nature of Paul’s death, the machinations and jealousies of Joseph and Eve begin to chip away at the foundation of Abel and Marianne’s new relationship.
Garrel is either very brave or very vain to put himself in the middle of all this, for his Abel character is the lynchpin in a love triangle anchored by a gorgeous 19-year-old and a world-famous Guess Girl. Even by French romance standards, the contortions this movie goes through to give Abel his cake, so that he can also eat it, is astounding. What’s more, “A Faithful Man” is ostensibly the story of Abel and how he comes to terms with the failed relationship that’s come to define his life, yet he is (sadly) never the agent for change in any of this.
Without encroaching on spoiler territory, it should suffice to say that Abel doesn’t learn anything without the direct intervention of others, and this is a problem for the flick. While this does give some agency back to the female characters, it also takes the wind out of the movie’s sails, since it is all tied to a lead with no ability to change without the guidance of others. An interesting story though that might be, it is a less than desirable trait for a protagonist, and it leaves “A Faithful Man” without much of a compass.
The parallel stories of both Eve and Abel living in a fantasy “What if?” world about relationships that could be is an interesting device, and does serve the overall effort well vis-à-vis being careful about what you wish for. The performances from the cast are top-notch, with the precocious Joseph stealing pretty much every scene he’s in. The humor in “A Faithful Man” is dry, and comes at the audience with clever maneuvers that are tough to see coming, so there is indeed lots to admire in this one.
An interesting, but ultimately light and frothy, Parisian rom-com that flies by at a breezy 73 minutes, “A Faithful Man” does alright for itself despite a few baked in flaws. A problematic lead doesn’t keep this film from clipping along at an easily-consumable and enjoyable pace with the help of a few dynamic performances and an interesting and unconventional script. Now playing at TIFF, the film should play well, and will likely do even better when released in France next year. As far as connecting with audiences outside of Paris and the festival circuit, though, it’s hard to harbor much faith in “A Faithful Man.” [C+]
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