Wicker Park

Diane Kruger n'est pas encore une actrice dramatique mature, mais elle est vraiment belle et avec l'aide de Josh Hartnett, Matthew Lillard et Rose Byrne, elle se débrouille bien avec sa beauté, sa fragilité et son charme. Ne vous laissez pas décourager par la première heure fade, où les cartes sont simplement distribuées discrètement. Dans la seconde heure, Paul McGuigan a mélangé un cocktail excellent de toute la palette des émotions de l'amour heureux et malheureux, et les a élevées au maximum de l'émotion. Et parce qu'il l'a fait non seulement en dirigeant les acteurs, mais surtout avec un montage sophistiqué et des jeux de caméra, il obtient une médaille d'or de ma part. Ne comparez pas ce film aux œuvres plus matures de Brian De Palma ou Alfred Hitchcock - nous sommes ici dans des eaux plus simples du divertissement pour les jeunes, qui croient toujours en un grand amour de la vie ou qui l'ont déjà vécu et qui les poursuit de manière indélébile. La conclusion, qui aurait pu ruiner tout le film avec un peu de maladresse, est finalement la plus belle de ces dernières années. J'ai pleuré comme un petit enfant et j'étais aux anges. P.S. : Il y a plein de films comme celui-ci. Seulement ils ne fonctionnent jamais aussi parfaitement. (20/01/2005)

A not very typical romantic story (anyone who says this is a classic romantic story is lying) woven into a thriller and made with a generous dose of directorial talent. The structure of the script is quite weak, but never falls apart because you can understand the characters – everything works the way it should. To be honest, I was almost shocked at how good it is. (01/09/2010)

The more we believe in love, the more it destroys us. But sometimes those happy moments are worth it, and we are willing to suffer or even betray someone close to us, or even destroy their life. And precisely because the majority of those who know how to love are capable of this, Alex did not seem like a negative character to me, but just someone who cannot figure out what is right or wrong and simply listens to their heart. In the film itself, it is sometimes a bit difficult to understand what is the present, what is the past, what is the later past, but once I understood how it all is, I just waited for it to turn out well, and the final scene at the airport with the song Scientist by Coldplay in the background is one of the most powerful romantic finishes I have ever seen. When I add the excellent performances of the main quartet (including the slightly light-hearted character of a friend), it comes out as an excellent and unforgettable film. (07/10/2005)

Beautiful cinematography, the brilliant atmosphere of Chicago in winter, and an exceptionally original screenplay. Those are the three biggest strengths of this accomplished romantic film, which unfortunately seems incredibly muddled in the first half. Given the context of the second half, it is relatively okay, but they could have put more effort into the construction of the opening scenes to make it easier for the audience to follow along. The female cast caught my attention, unlike Josh Hartnett. The romance is sincere and does not disrupt the often ambient atmosphere, and several scenes became very personal for me. A pleasant treat for a rainy Saturday afternoon. Not a very well-known film, but still above average in the romantic genre. (31/08/2006)

A coherently and spectacularly shot retrospective narrative that in the first half tantalises with a flurry of artfully skewered plot information on several temporal fronts, while in the end it brings together its four protagonists in an emotionally exacerbated and cinematically sophisticated relationship tapestry. It's really rare to see a film with such a romantic charge that doesn't cease to surprise and entertain, and that finishes the usual final scene in such style that makes it worthy of the position of the most beautiful genre ending far and wide, just considering the previous gripping action. There are some unoriginal cinematic bits, like the number of random encounters of the characters that pile up rather disproportionately, or the characters ignoring each other, although they are only a few meters away, that prevent me from giving the highest rating, however much my infinite sympathy for the feelings and actions of the lovelorn Josh Hartnett was invoked... 85% (27/11/2015)

It's a fact that there are a lot of romantic films like this – so definitely a big plus for being unconventional and for the rather distinctive (and for me personally, very likeable) concept. With more "serious" romantic films I usually have a problem with the characters – their emotions, journeys, and "hardships" usually strike me as not very believable (like Avary's The Rules of Attraction). With Wicker Park, it's exactly the opposite. The brilliant central trio imbued their characters with so much feeling and emotion that I shed a tear now and then.)) The interesting direction and sensitively chosen music ultimately bring my final rating to 90-95% and I'll see what the second viewing brings.)) (06/04/2010)