Customer Reviews

Times Have Been Better

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I can't believe it took this long for the DVD to arrive in the US (Sept 07) since it feels like ages ago that I saw this movie in Paris -- then took friends to see it in Toronto -- and then dragged friends to see it in NYC.

This is a wonderful and fun little film about what happens when you think you are going to get one type of reaction from loved ones, but get the opposite reaction instead, with hilarious result.

The cast is uniformly terrific, and I am sure that this movie will eventually be remade in the US with a US-based english-speaking cast...but it will be hard to beat the talented and charming cast in this French film.

Loved it loved it loved it. Highly recommended.

it was incredible watching this movie even with the language barrier..it didnt even matter. subtitles do help but for me i could just feel what the older brother was going through not by my own experience. But just by seeing how they were reacting to each other as they were filming and how the actors and actresses all worked together to bring across a movie that while funny and dramatic. Also has some scenes that get you pissed again i'm not one to go telling specific scenes in the movie. But i will say that the father of the older son first seems cool with his son telling him and mother that he's gay.

But as you progress further into the film he starts losing it, lashing out, slapping his younger son (also a delight to watch in this movie) for something about the lawn. it is interesting to see how folks really react and feel to a situation not what they are thinking and think that person wants to hear. It just came across so well and made a huge impression on me long after it was over. I cant help hope to see all the people in this movie again in something as good as Times Have Been Better. But its highly rated and recommended by me for rent and then a purchase afterwards. It will draw in folks no matter what their sexual preference is.

Loved it!!!!

TIMES HAVE BEEN BETTER (Le Ciel sur la tête) is a polished little French 'made for television' film that holds its own on every level in the theater and on DVD. The issues it tackles are many, not just the main topic of coming out to a family. This is one of the better, more fully rounded examinations of the contemporary family in recent years. Based on a story and screenplay by Nicholas Mercier and directed by Régis Musset, this is a sophisticated comedy with some sensitive dramatic overtones presented by a fine cast and superb production values.

Jérémy (Arnaud Binard) is the wholly successful business executive son of Rosine (the amazingly fine actress Charlotte de Turckheim) and Guy (Bernard Le Coq) and big brother to Robin (Olivier Guéritée). When he pays a surprise visit to his home for an impromptu brunch, his family is in fine spirits until the reason for the surprise visit is made known: Jérémy announces to his parents that he is gay and though Robin has known this fact for some time and Rosine has suspected it, the news hits the family unit by storm. Jérémy returns to Paris to his partner Marc (Pierre Deny) and while relieved that he can now live his life in the open, Jérémy frets about the trauma to his family unit. Robin gathers the courage to rebel against going to college in favor of following his dream of being involved with cinema, Guy goes into a true depression, and Rosine decides to face the new life of her son, traveling to Paris to meet her son's home and friends and fresh outlook. While in Paris Rosine discovers her own suppressed needs and with the courage Jérémy has shown, she is able to return to her home an altered person.

The cast is very attractive and very fine and story flows so naturally, completely without cliché, that the movie becomes more a study of human behavior than of a routine 'coming out' movie. Well worth the viewer's time. In French with English subtitles. Grady Harp, November 07

In the French made-for-TV film "Le Ciel sur la tête" ("Times Have Been Better") (2006), Jérémy is 30 year old son of liberal upper middle class parents Guy and Rosine, who comes home in order to tell his parents about his impressive promotion at his work in Paris ... and to finally tell them that he is gay. His younger brother, Robin, who has known about his brother's sexuality for years, warns him that they are going to be stunned by the news, but neither one of them could have anticipated just how it would affect the relationships between each one of the four family members.

I found this to be a refreshing change on the usual "coming out" tale, on several levels. Obviously, the son is no longer a child, but an adult who finished college and is a success in the business world, but whom has been procrastinating about telling his parents until he was in a relationship, which he is now. And, from that point, the gay son actually becomes more of a supporting character, as the film concentrates more on the resulting tension between the parents and also the younger son, who unfortunately decides around the same time to postpone college to take a temp job for a film studio. While the initial troubles between the parents seem to have been triggered by the revelation of the son's sexuality, it also soon becomes obvious that the problems are buried much deeper than that, and have existed through most of their marriage. The turmoil of the relationship also alienates good friends of both Guy and Rosine, and pushes Rosine to seek out advice and support from her gay co-worker, whom she doesn't particularly like. The film is a light but intelligent reminder about how important communication is in any relationship, and how being "open minded" is often tougher than it seems.

DVD has brief "making of" featurette (dubbed in English, although the film itself is in French with subtitles, and may need some pausing and replays, since the dialogue comes through pretty fast at times.) and photo gallery. I give it four stars out of five.

To say "Times Have Been Better" is a great film would be a huge statement! Kudos to all those involved in the production of this French film. The acting, the writing, the direction, casting, etc., are combined deftly into one superior film. I have nothing but praise for this film and I'm sure it will be remembered as a classic in years to come. The writing is top notch; this film has it all-- drama, humor and true emotion. This is a family that is completely believable to watch. There is not a false moment or performance to be found. The talented cast is fun to watch (especially the actors playing the father, mother and the two sons) and the supporting cast as well. I highly recommend this movie and just wish American producers could handle such subject matter with the skill and respect that the Europeans do.

THE best coming out to the parents movie ever! Unfortunately the Europeans just have the upper hand over their counterparts across the Atlantic when it comes to serious film making. You couldn't possibly touch more nerves, more accurately and more convincingly than this film does. You'll definitely laugh and will probably shed a tear too. It's a film that encourages you to love and to be stoic in the face of the consequences. And it proposes that there can be some sort of golden middle path in the catastrophe that is family life. Absolutely breathtaking!

I agree with the other reviewer who said this movie transcended the gay coming out theme of queer cinema. It's as much if not more a journey of the parents than of the child. The director, in the DVD extras, says as much, when he confesses that the gay son Jeremy, probably has the least interesting role in the cast. The eruption that results from Jeremy's news is more an exploration of the various reactions and the collisions of conscience and kindness the main characters have with eachother as a result. I particularly loved the idea that even though the parents are perceived by their children as left-wing liberal their reactions to their son's coming out are unexpected given their political stripe and their perception of themselves. The unexpectedness of the reactions and their emotional core are what make the script believable and the performances by Charlotte de Turckheim and Bernard Le Coq as mother and father, really are the centre of this story. A brilliant jewel box of a film, which has some pleasant surprises as the story is revealed.
Highly recommended.

Joe

Very smart, very funny, and ultimately very touching coming out film, from director Régis Musset. Jeremy (Arnaud Binard), a successful young businessman, finally informs his parents he is gay. Refreshingly, this movie focuses not on an angst-ridden son (he is, in fact, the most well-adjusted member of the family) but rather on the effect his announcement has on his parents, Guy (Bernard Le Coq) and Rosine (Charlotte de Turckheim). Supposedly liberal, they find it very difficult to accept that their son is gay, especially his father. Poor Jeremy has to contend with a rebellious younger brother, and the collapse of his parent's marriage.

Although this is a gay-themed movie, Jeremy and his boyfriend actually appear very little in the movie.

The entire cast is wonderful, with Chantal Ladesou as Rosine's outspoken, chain-smoking best friend, and Franck de la Personne as Rosine's flamboyant co-worker, especially good. But the film belongs to de Turckheim as a mother who finally comes to accept her son, her husband, and most importantly herself. She is superb.

For anyone who wants to enjoy a witty, sophisticated comedy that only the French (or, sadly, just about any country other than America) can make, "Times Have Been Better" is a must-see.

"Times have been better" is a warm film, with a comedy touch. If you like European cinema, you will not be disappointed.
I decided to see it after I had seen "Cockles and muscles" (which, btw, is even more enjoyable than this one).
The main theme here is the homosexuality of Jeremy, the older son of Rosin and Guy. Until their own son came out of the closet, they considered themselves to be very open-minded...Well, as we can see some things sometimes are not so easy to accept as we thought they would be.

In my opinion this is one of the movies I would like to have in private collection. Both story and acting are great. Pictures (Paris at nite), chosen sceneries are eye catching too.
TWO THUMBS UP.

"Times Have Been Better" is the story of a middle-class French family confronting a collection of long-simmering relationship problems in the aftermath of the much admired older son's announcement that he's gay. Just about everything about this film is intelligent and insightful (with the exception of the inept disc cover graphic.) All of the characters--gay son, younger brother, mother, father and assorted friends--are presented as real human beings owning a wide variety of hang ups, ambitions, egos and ongoing disappointments. Reliance on traditional coming out story cliches and stereotypes is generally well and creatively avoided in this particular family story, much to the benefit of the screenplay and the enjoyment of the viewer. The film's characters all eventually wise up in this film, but in plausible and intelligent ways. Interesting that this film was conceived and made in France. It's doubtful that the same effort could come out of Hollywood or even as an Indie production where these subjects have almost always been cliche-bound and focused on physical beauty over basic human behavior.