Family reunion and reconciliation: the black sheep returns from banishment in time for his mother’s battle with cancer. The setting-up of who’s who is clumsy, and the occasional direct address to the camera is lazy, and two and a half hours are more than enough. But the unified French ensemble breathes some life into it: Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Roussillon (offbeat casting as Deneuve’s toadish husband), Anne Consigny, Mathieu Amalric, Melvil Poupaud (always a screen-brightener), Chiara Mastroianni (Deneuve’s daughter in real life but a daughter-in-law on screen), Emmanuelle Devos, and Laurent Capelluto. Directed by Arnaud Desplechin. (2008) — Duncan Shepherd
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