Rent Matthias and Maxime (2019)

Patchy and frustrating - Matthias and Maxime review by JB

For a while, Canadian writer-director Xavier Dolan was the enfant terrible of French-language cinema, an outspoken 20-something making spiky dramas such as I Killed My Mother and Mommy full of vivid characters, of-the-moment music and wild energy that won awards from his home country to the Cannes film festival. He's had a run of poorly reviewed films recently, including an English-language one starring Kit Harrington that, two years after its initial release, hasn't come out in the UK yet.

His new movie, Matthias and Maxime, sees him return to more familiar ground and is slightly more toned down than the histrionic heights of Mommy. Matthias (Gabriel D' Almeida Freitas) and Maxime (Xavier Dolan himself, in a rather good performance) are childhood friends whose friendship is put under strain when they're asked to kiss one another in a friend's new art film. Something awakens between them, but as Maxime is leaving for Australia, the question is: is it too little too late?

There's something really unfocused about this movie. This is most evident in a subplot, not entirely connected to anything else, which sees Maxime's difficult relationship with his deeply troubled mother, that he's trying to tie up before his trip. It takes up a chunk of the film but is by far its most fully realised, affecting part. The will-they-won't-they Maxime/Matthias storyline feels rather thinly spread between those scenes, only really picking up in the second half again. There's also a lot of time spent on on their wider friendship group - partying and generally being obnoxious - that doesn't seem to serve a real purpose and is often actively annoying.

At his best, Dolan's movies are full of wild but invigorating energy but this, for me, showcases his worst excesses… patchy storytelling, too many characters often thinly drawn and an over-reliance on music and clichéd stylistic tics from slow motion to time-lapse photography to generate drama. It's a shame as he can do so much better and you can see traces of brilliance all the way through this messy and unsatisfying film.

Overlong, Bloated, Meandering French Canadian Drama which goes nowhere... - Matthias and Maxime review by PV

I was expecting so much more from this film. It is long and feels it, because it is unfocused, flabby and self-indulgent which makes it, in a word, boring.

It's a bit like watching someone else's holiday video of Christmas family video - fascinating for them. Tedious for everyone else and anyone not there. THAT is what it's like watching so many scenes of twenty-somethings partying, arguing, drinking, meeting their families etc,.

And then there is what is a 2-D racist caricature of a WASP lawyer from Toronto. Having lived in Canada I am aware of a giant POMME FRITE on the shoulder of some French Canadians in Quebec, and that no doubt is why this character is introduced at all. ALl completely extraneous to the plot, so no point in this character or, frankly, many others.

Very disappointing. 2 stars, just.

Worth Watching - Matthias and Maxime review by JR

Personally I liked this film , and i like much of Xavier Dolan's other work, such as "Heartbeats". It basically focusses on the fine line between long term friendship and love between two men who have known each since childhood. If you love another male friend does that make you gay? ( I loved the scene where Max discovers the old childhood drawing in a drawer) The ending ( without giving it away) is ambigious but i like to think positive, but not in a glib "happy ever after' way. At the end of the day, it depends what sort of films you like, and find satisfying. For me this was a good watch, and well acted, particularly by Xavier Dolan himself.