My Worst Nightmare

2011

1h 39m

Romance

Comedy

List

67%

12 Reviews

Tomatometer

28%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

After two guys become best friends, one's mom -- a prim, proper career woman -- meets the other's dad, who lives out of his van.

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william k

Modern-day screwball comedy is more satirical than humorous; against all odds, Isabelle Huppert and BenoÃ (R)t Poelvoorde make it work.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It isn't so much that it is a bad film -- it is more than it is really something we've all seen before.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

Full Review

walter m

With an upcoming gallery opening, Agathe(Isabelle Huppert) finds her plate full. Then there is a school meeting about standardized testing which is hijacked by Patrick(Benoit Poelvoorde), a laborer, who is more interested in school lunches. What Agathe is also interested in is the continuing renovations in the apartment she shares with her longtime significant other Francois(Andre Dussollier), a publisher, which is where Patrick reenters the picture. To its credit, "My Worst Nightmare" does not exactly have a nightmarish scenario. In fact, it has an archetypical set-up for romantic comedy in its pairing of opposites who initially misunderstand each other. But then director Anne Fontaine's aesthetic is prickly, not exactly conducive to this sort of thing. Even worse is the fact that she does not understand Isabelle Huppert who instead of playing the monster that was expected turns it around to find the humanity in Agathe while making it look so very effortless. That ironically undermines Francois' mortal fear of Agathe and a good deal of the comedy, even as Andre Dussollier is very funny here.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

jesse o

This film is a pretty cliched look at relationships between people of different societal classes. Agathe is rich with a stick up her ass, she's pretentious and frigid. Patrick is poor and he's unrestrained, says what's on his mind and is really kind of sleazy. Opposites attract eh? So yea, you've seen this before and will probably see it again. The film certainly gets some good laughs out of Patrick's politically incorrect personality, and Benoit Poelvoorde does a good job at making this character likable, in spite of all his faults, but there are some moments in the second act where the movie just slows down tremendously and kinda loses its charm. Admittedly, the film tries to give Patrick a little depth with the narrative of how he tries to do everything he can to keep his son. And the fact is that Patrick is not just what he appears to be at first. They don't tell you a lot about his past, but you know he's gone through some shit and that's thanks to Benoit's performance. Basically, the film works past its cliches thanks to Isabelle Huppert's and Benoit's performances. It's kinda weird seeing Isabelle doing this type of movie, she usually does these films where she's playing incredibly serious characters. While, for the most part, the character is very serious, there are some surprising moments of comedy from her character and it was, while refreshing to see, strange at the same time. If you're looking for a light comedy that's easy to get into, then you're definitely barking up the wrong tree. The framing of the story reads like it's gonna be a light comedy, but it's nothing like it. I like that the film focuses on the characters, but I just found the entire film to be lacking something that would've taken it to the next level. There's just something in the second act that brings the film to, almost, a complete stop and it doesn't really recover until it's far too late. Still, it's a decent movie at best. Not bad at all.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I had more fun with this film than most romanic comedies since Carey Grant and Katherine Hepburn teamed up, but being French, it is much more liberated and imaginative.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I liked that one though very predictable. Fun to get immersed again in the French " argot " (slang). I had forgotten how rich it can be. Very Gallic!

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

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Anne Fontaine

Director

Isabelle Huppert

Agathe Novic

Benoît Poelvoorde

Patrick Demeuleu

André Dussollier

François Dambreville

Virginie Efira

Julie

Corentin Devroey

Tony

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J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

Isabelle Huppert may be approaching self-parody as an icon of Gallic frigidity, yet the talented writer-director Anne Fontaine puts that to excellent use in this broad, obvious, but consistently funny bedroom farce.

Mar 14, 2013

Full Review

Moira MacDonald

Seattle Times

"My Worst Nightmare," though predictable, moves along nicely enough for most of its 99 minutes, thanks to an offbeat chemistry between Huppert (who's very good at looking appalled) and the very relaxed Poelvoorde.

Rated: 2.5/4

Jan 24, 2013

Full Review

Mick LaSalle

San Francisco Chronicle

[Huppert] can't get laughs where there are none, and she can't buy a laugh in the movie's second half.

Rated: 2/4

Dec 28, 2012

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

A delightful vehicle for the awesome talent of Isabelle Huppert.

Rated: 3.5/5

Jun 27, 2019

Full Review

Gerald Peary

Boston Phoenix

The terrific leads dig into their clichd roles and come up with characters to savor, and a relationship to root for.

Rated: 3/4

Dec 4, 2012

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...a terminally uneven piece of work that will leave most viewers flummoxed and frustrated.

Rated: 1.5/4

Sep 16, 2011

Full Review

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Synopsis

After two guys become best friends, one's mom -- a prim, proper career woman -- meets the other's dad, who lives out of his van.

Director: Anne Fontaine
Screenwriter: Anne Fontaine, Nicolas Mercier
Production Co: Pathé, M6 Films
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Original Language: French (Canada)
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 6, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $21.5K
Runtime: 1h 39m

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