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The Grand Role

Play trailer Poster for The Grand Role 2005 1h 26m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
61% Tomatometer 18 Reviews 50% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
To make his dying wife (Bérénice Bejo) happy, a struggling actor (Stéphane Freiss) and his friends pretend he has won the lead in a new movie.

Critics Reviews

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Eddie Cockrell Variety 06/03/2005
Predictable yet charming. Go to Full Review
Frank Scheck The Hollywood Reporter 06/03/2005
Bereft of real laughs while lacking the depth to make its emotional aspects more moving, the film never manages to assimilate its shifting tones and ultimately seems trivial. Go to Full Review
Jonathan Curiel San Francisco Chronicle 05/20/2005
4/4
Their characters are compelling and completely realistic, the acting is first-rate, and many scenes in this black-and-white movie (which was shot in different countries, including Saudi Arabia) are breathtaking. Go to Full Review
Doris Toumarkine Film Journal International 03/01/2007
Favors melodramatic and quirky twists, never bothering to lay down substantive ballast. Go to Full Review
David Nusair Reel Film Reviews 01/30/2006
2.5/4
...works as long as one doesn't think about it too much... Go to Full Review
Andy Klein Los Angeles CityBeat 12/15/2005
...a diverting little comedy/drama, with a good central performance from Freiss, but...nothing much more on display. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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09/07/2008 Excelente experimento de cine frances (otra pelicula proyectada en el 2005, vista en Mazatlan en 2008), en exactamente la linea argumentativa de mentiras piadosas de "La Vida es Bella" y "Adios a Lenin"... muy tierna y de buena hechura. Con un excelente elenco de autenticamente amigos.... muy recomendable. See more 04/18/2008 Background setting is not really realistic (but hey! That's what the French movies do! And this is called 'Romance'!). Maurice's friends/gangs each with a clear & special character & provide the main jokes of the film. Francois Berleand is great again. See more 01/06/2008 a bit weak at the end but overall very touching. the Shakespearean dialogue is comparable to Al's one, very touching; a lot of thoughts on religion and tradition. See more 12/02/2007 a typical French small film. Anyway, I love the lines. p.s. Olivier Sitruk is handsome. See more Read all reviews
The Grand Role

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis To make his dying wife (Bérénice Bejo) happy, a struggling actor (Stéphane Freiss) and his friends pretend he has won the lead in a new movie.
Director
Steve Suissa
Screenwriter
Daniel Cohen, Daniel Goldenberg, Steve Suissa, Sophie Tepper
Distributor
First Run
Production Co
Les Films de l'Espoir
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
French (France)
Release Date (Theaters)
May 6, 2005, Original
Box Office (Gross USA)
$35.6K
Runtime
1h 26m