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Bon Voyage
EMAILPRINTSony Pictures Classics
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 30 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 13 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy | Drama | Foreign
Written by:
Patrick Modiano,
Gilles Marchand (adaptation),
Jean-Paul Rappeneau (adaptation), Julien Rappeneau (adaptation),
Jérôme Tonnerre (adaptation)
Directed by: Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Release Date:
Theatrical: March 19, 2004
DVD: August 17, 2004
Running Time: 114 minutes, Color
Origin: France
Language(s): French (with English subtitles)
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for some violence
Starring Isabelle Adjani, Gérard Depardieu, Virginie Ledoyen, Yvan Attal, Grégori Derangère, Peter Coyote, Jean-Marc Stehlé, and Aurore Clément
A sophisticated farce set at the posh Hotel Splendide in Bordeaux at the start of World War II.
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
The story is engrossing, full of thrills and humor, the period re-creation wondrous and the pace intoxicatingly brisk. And the actors are all so good and their parts so well-written that we're engaged emotionally as well.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Works best of all as an epic. It wonderfully creates a world of fractured deco elegance and endless human duplicity in which everyone is on the run -- exactly the kind of incisive, seemingly effortless historical spectacle that the French have learned to do so much better than Hollywood.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
Not long into this most exhilarating and enjoyable of movies, it becomes reminiscent of such vintage jewels as Carol Reed's simultaneously thrilling and amusing "Night Train to Munich."
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Judith Prescott
It is a beautifully crafted film with a star-studded cast, directed with a lightness of touch.
Read Full Review >Variety Lisa Nesselson
A rousing, well-crafted romp packed with ingenuity, duplicity, close calls and heroic gestures, Bon Voyage is true to its title.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
This is a grand, confident entertainment, sure of the power of Adjani, Depardieu and the others, and sure of itself.
Read Full Review >Empire David Parkinson
The result is both audaciously amusing and provocatively sophisticated.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
Blurs the line between comedy and epic drama so adroitly that the two styles fuse into something quite original: a lyrical farce that pays homage to its period in any number of ways.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Charles Taylor
Watching it is a little like stumbling upon a frayed valentine you put away years ago and then laughing with pleasure at how much it still means to you.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
This is a film lover's film, and as if to underscore the point, Bon Voyage opens and closes in a movie theater.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein
A bit of fluff expertly made and a hoot to watch.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
At times, the giddy tone makes it feel like a musical set on the eve of Pearl Harbor, but the acting is uniformly good and it's an absolutely gorgeous film to watch.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
It’s sexy, suspenseful fun, and gorgeous-looking to boot.
Read Full Review >USA Today Mike Clark
The filmmaker's new subject, the German occupation of France, has been treated with the seriousness it deserves in countless movies over the past half-century. This treatment is light and breezy for a change, though not altogether frivolous.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
A picture that gallops forward as soon as it breaks out of the gate. Anyone with an open mind and curiosity about history might enjoy it.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
A high-wire act of storytelling, tone and old-fashioned chutzpah.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Bon Voyage arrives like one of those old soldiers who stumbles from his hiding place unaware that the war is over and the world has changed -- and with it, French cinema.
Read Full Review >The New Yorker David Denby
No more than a shallow, style-mad entertainment, but it never flags or loses its balance, and, despite the theatricality of the staging and the acting, it’s precisely the materiality of the cinema--that makes us devour it with pleasure. [29 March 2004, p. 103]
The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann
The result is a picture that, moving through political and social chaos, is stubbornly amusing.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
This portrait of 1940 France on the verge of capitulating to the Vichy regime is intriguing. However, what keeps the movie engaging is its nutty tone.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
Unfortunately, a little too much pointless running around coupled with the underdevelopment of several key characters results in a movie that's never more than mildly diverting.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
Despite this tale's surface sheen and propulsive momentum, it never transports one very far.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf
The stately pacing and meandering plot often reduce this potential classic to generous eye candy.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall
It's well mounted and lushly photographed, and Rappeneau deftly orchestrates the crowd scenes as Parisian elites flock to Bordeaux, but the large cast doesn't mesh.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
The result is nothing if not a curiosity piece.
Read Full Review >Village Voice David Ng
Relies on its considerable star power to conceal its even more considerable lack of substance.
Read Full Review >New York Post V.A. Musetto
Things move so swiftly and confusingly that there's little time to explore any of the people in depth. Less style and more substance is definitely called for.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
It's just plain exhausting to watch the admirably game cast members running around like headless chickens in chic period clothes, surrendering their dignity to the task of navigating the plot's frenetic contrivances.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
Whenever Rappeneau stays close to Adjani, the film briefly soars on her giddy self-absorption--particularly in the first hour, when it hasn't been sullied by misfortune. But ultimately, the big stars are just window dressing for an expensive nothing.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ron Stringer
The cast's sometimes capable, sometimes gross mugging is overwhelmed by lavish costumes, shiny vintage cars, hordes of meticulously directed extras, and the here-incongruous seriousness with which the French still regard this momentous, if humiliating, chapter of their national history.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.7 (out of 10) based on 13 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
armando s. gave it a9:
A near perfect movie that will appeal to all people who like to watch adult films, as opposed to most of the juvenile crud that Hollywood puts out. The plot is complicated but skillfully executed. The characters motivations and emotions are believable. And the dialogue-it reminds me of some of the old great black and white movies. An elegant movie.
Michael B. gave it a9:
Although 'Bon Voyage' is coy about its genre, structurally it is a classic farce, with multiple storylines zipping and crosscutting with breathtaking speed and amazing coincidences. It is a meticulous, loving recreation of a vanished world. It includes first-rate performances from three established international stars and brilliant newcomer Gregory Derangere. The supporting performances are all highly polished gems, however small some of them may be. The more you know of the history of French cinema, the more you will love this film.
Bill F. gave it a 9:
A thoroughly enjoyable, engrossing farce. Characters meet and interact in totally unexpected, but always believeable ways. A 2 hour vacation.
Dave R. gave it a 1:
The film was absolutely terrible! I can't speak French so don't ask me about the dialogue but the movie was disjointed in places and had no plot. I was bored after 10 minutes of the film and it got worse as the film progressed and I started to yawn and couldn't wait for it to finish. So bored with the plot and there were no laughs at all. There is no ending either in this movie. I was expecting a brilliant comedy which this film has been raved on about expecting something like like "Le Closet" which the I hasten to add this film was compared to by French film critics and is worth a 9 in my opnion for a brilliant comedy, with a story, and loads of laughter. This movie sucks and it deserves a 1. When a film can't stand on its own merits and film critics start to compare it to other films you know it's gonna be bad.
Cameron S. gave it a 7:
[***PLOT REVELATIONS***] Bon Voyage is an enjoyable, farcical roller-coaster ride; an action-adventure/romantic-comedy/war charade of little consequence and high, but little involving fun. It is a film that never takes itself too seriously but never loses its grip on plausibility. Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau has constructed entertainment built on a cluttered and muddled, but mostly well-plotted and fun movie that works, mostly. We start with a murder by the promiscuous, conniving movie star, Viviane. After a movie premiere of hers, she is followed back to her hotel to scorn her and retrieve something of his. She shoots him and gets an infatuated fan/ex-boyfriend to take care of the body. He gets into an accident that immediately triggers the police who quickly imprison him. He is sent to jail, but with the war looming close, all the prisoners are released. As the barbarian krauts invade, he retreats to the countryside in search of Vivian. En route to safety, he and a fellow escapee run into a mess with a young girl and a Jewish scientist who need to get hard water to England safely. But out of some sort of bureaucratic loop, are unable to successfully retreat. The plot grows thicker and more preposterous, but never loses its finesse. The more you accept this romanticized melodrama, the more fun youll have. Also in the countryside is Vivian who is now using a minister, who is unaware of the other guys criminal record, or more importantly, Vivians. She is manipulative and uses men until they no longer cease to be needed. I could go on more about the enjoyable time I had, but its just something you need to go with. The deeper it delves into the trouble, the further youll go on the ride. And the less concerned you are with the gravity of it all, the faster the ride will run. How appropriate the last act is, to end in a Parisian movie theatre under German reign, with the manipulative star taking over another unsuspecting man while the nicer characters go into the cinema actually escaping the Nazis. Escapism is what people seek out of the cinema, but rarely are they hiding from real danger.
Alex gave it a 5:
Virginie Ledoyen's Camille was the best thing about this movie. Gorgeous, alluring, good hearted, courageous, devoted. The rest of the movie is a rather savage retelling of the French experience in World War II, filtered through the eyes of an innocent, spoiled, self-indulgent actress. Isabelle Adjani's Viviane is blessed with beauty and, as is the wont of smitten men, praised with virtue; she gets her way by using those around her, and casts them aside when they are of no use. She has no scruples and no compunction whom she uses and to what end. France's situation is seen through her eyes because her collaborationist nature is analogized with France's itself. If we love her despite her faults, it is because we impute virtue to her beauty.
Gregory L. gave it a 9:
Spectacularly entertaining, but with far more moral substance than many mainline critics are allowing. The glittering surface story doesn't obscure remarkable images of refugee desperation on the eve of the Nazi invasion. And the characters, who are playing out their own non-political drama, show us how easy it was to ignore the big picture to satisfy demands of the moment. Isn't that, in part anyway, how the Nazis achieved their first triumphs?
