Una pequeña mentira

François Damiens is the stand out ,in his portrayal of a man,Laurent , who has lost everything ,even the custody of his only child, a teenage whiz kid ;considering the limitations he's working under,he's to be commended : the divorced man ,whose wife started a new life with a well-respected man who tries to win the boy's affection,a brat who has only eyes for his dad who of course sank into alcoholism ,it is a cliché to end all the clichés.

Laurent is really a poor pitiful man whose son's gift for football is his only reason to cling to life ;he's even become persona non grata on the football field,and,supreme vexation, he's denied to attend his boy's last game. Although he was not selected by the Arsenal FC recruiter ,Theo makes his father believe he is actually about to sign to the prestigious club.

Overnight ,helped by a devoted social worker , the overwrought man changes : he will find a job, he will learn English with a walkman and cassettes ( is it still used ?says the social worker), and ,last but not least ,he will quit drinking (a few relapses will happen). "Fourmi " (=ant;the football wizard is too short to be signed to Arsenal )is the story of a redemption.Theo knows that ,if he does not qualify for the selection,his father's life is irreparably doomed ;so he's compelled to lie to his coach (André Dussolier) and his assistant (who seems to prefer pastry cook to football,so do I).

Only his good friend,Karim is in secret ;as for the youngsters ' performances ,it's uneven :it goes from good (Laurent,Karim) to mediocre (Max ,the computer wizzard :how could you believe this giddy jerk would be able to write an email using the perfect club jargon,? the young actor acts as if he does not care)

The subject of the movie is a man's redemption ;it renders the denouement null and void ,a crowd-pleaser ,the expected event ; the movie would have been a hundred times more convincing without it , and reductio ad aburdum that a lie can be vital to save a human life .And that a man can help himself ,and ,after a while does not need his son's prowesses to be a human being again ( the bedroom he paints for him speaks volumes about his metamorphosis).And Mr Damiens was up to scratch!