Synopsis
Bahia Benmahmoud, a free-spirited young woman, has a particular way of seeing political engagement, as she doesn't hesitate to sleep with those who don't agree with her to convert them to her cause - which is a lot of people, as all right-leaning people are concerned. Generally, it works pretty well. Until the day she meets Arthur Martin, a discreet forty-something who doesn't like taking risks. She imagines that with a name like that, he's got to be slightly fascist. But names are deceitful and appearances deceiving.
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Cast
- Jacques GamblinArthur Martin
- Sara ForestierBahia Benmahmoud
- Zinedine SoualemMohamed Benmahmoud, le père de Bahia
- Jacques BoudetLucien Martin, le père d'Arthur
- Carole FranckCécile Benhmamoud, la mère de Bahia
- Michèle MorettiAnnette Martin, la mère d'Arthur
- Julia Vaidis-BogardAnnette à 30 ans
- Nabil MassadNassim
- Zakariya GouramHassan Hassini
- Adrien StocletArthur Martin adolescent
Recommendations
- 83
Entertainment Weekly
For those who wish to decode The Names of Love, there's a sharp commentary on French prejudices, character types, history, and culture embedded in Michel Leclerc's droll autobiographical French comedy. - 75
The A.V. Club
The American romantic comedy has grown distressingly moribund lately, but anyone looking to freshen up the genre a bit need look no further than Michel Leclerc's The Names Of Love. - 70
Wall Street Journal
Sharp-witted, sometimes surreal and largely autobiographical French-language comedy. - 70
The New York Times
For all the potentially dangerous subjects it glosses, above all the tangled legacies of the Holocaust and the Algerian war, The Names of Love dances away from any uncomfortable provocation. Even when sticking out its tongue, it is finally just an airy comedy riding on one cheeky, incandescent performance. - 63
Slant Magazine
Chockfull of ideas in a way that's both scattershot and more than a little exciting. - 58
Christian Science Monitor
Too much of The Names of Love is a joke book posing as a movie. - 50
New York Post
Strained and mildly amusing. The real reason to see the movie is the delightful performance by Sara Forestier, who rightly won the French version of the Oscar for her portrayal of the carefree Baya. - 40
Time Out
The question of whether the couple can overcome respective traumas and inbred social attitudes is essentially moot; the real query is how much insufferable Gallic tweeness you can stand before simply shouting "no, merci!"
