Harry needs lots of friends as viewers
by Ashley Clark, entertainment editor

    If English subtitles did not make it absolutely necessary to watch the screen, With a Friend Like Harry would be an opportune time to catch up on lost sleep.

    A middle-class family (Michel, his wife Claire and their children) is driving to their summer home several miles away from the city when they make a routine stop along the way.

    While in the restroom, Michel (Laurent Lucas) meets Harry, a former high school classmate played by Sergi Lopez.

    Harry remembers poetry and literature that Michel wrote as a hobby in school.

    Harry is curiously insistent that Michel take up writing again.

    Michel does not recognize Harry and is baffled when he invites himself and his girlfriend, Plum (pronounced Ploom) to Michel's summer home.

    As Harry's obsession with Michel and his writing grows the film takes an eerie turn and desperately attempts to become suspenseful when Harry decides to rid Michel of “problems” that are distracting Michel from writing.

    Typical of foreign films, much time is invested in silent close ups of shoes being tied, cars being driven or a bird singing on a fence.

    Because of all these silent moments, the plot takes a stop-start approach, which is often frustrating, making the story confusing and hard to follow.

    Director Dominik Mall would have done well to take notes from American suspense filmmakers.

    It seems that minimal effort was put forth by the cinematographers, which typically tend to make or break American thrillers.

    With a Friend Like Harry proves that this fact is universal.

    Camera angles are straightforward and devoid of any question of what might be around the corner.

    Scene cuts are also choppy and abrupt.

    Another element that was lost is the use of musical sound effects.

    Swelling, pounding, swirling orchestrated musical underscores are typically used to raise heart rates in American suspense films.

    In With a Friend Like Harry these sounds are replaced by a poorly timed synthesizer and what sounded like French lyrics being sung to an extremely annoying music box.

    Although With a Friend Like Harry is not a known remake, the feeling that the ideas have been done before is confirmed when there is nothing exciting to talk

    The plot is merely a case of “been there-done that.”

    One thing that is surprising and contrary to the American outline of filmmaking is the use of the wonderful actress playing the vixen, Plum.

    Traditionally, the fiery, sexy female is portrayed by a Catherine Zeta-Jones or a Sharon Stone molded actress.

    With Sophie Guillemin in the role, the character of Plum is more reminiscent of the Marilyn Monroe days.

    Although this decision is noticeable, it does not distract from her role. In fact, the sweet, bubbly Plum is a refreshing break from the blander leading characters.

    Those with a foreign taste would probably appreciate With a Friend Like Harry enough to pause their channel surfing out of curiosity when it finally airs on Cinemax or HBO.

    Perhaps the theater would be a good field trip for a French class. It's fun to match the spoken dialogue to the English subtitles, and the language is spoken clearly enough to learn a few new words on the way out.

    However, for the average American moviegoer, let's just say it's no Life is Beautiful. Dominik Mall deserves a sympathetic pat on the back and an “E” for effort.