With A Friend Like Harry (2000)

It takes nearly an hour for anything unusual to happen in With a Friend Like Harry, but that first hour is oddly unsettling. German filmmaker Dominik Moll reveals the trouble with Harry (Sergi López) with low-key precision, his thriller sensibility channeled from Hitchcock through Claude Chabrol, while emphasizing casual conversation in the style of Eric Rohmer. Harry's found Michel (Laurent Lucas) in a public restroom, identifying himself as an old schoolmate who remembers far too much about Michel, even though Michel has no recollection of Harry at all. But Harry's an ingratiating type, and nice enough on the surface, so Michel invites Harry and his girlfriend, Plum (Sophie Guillemin), to the summer cottage he's renovating with his wife, Claire (Mathilde Seigner), and their three young daughters. The Spanish actor López (from An Affair of Love) modulates his performance so carefully that Harry's psychosis--never explained, but strangely compelling--reverberates well beyond the film's shocking conclusion. It turns out Harry's been a helpful friend after all, but that's cold comfort in a film that warns us against the kindness of strangers. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

Excellent DVD !

Excellent French story about a murder !
The performance of every actor is suberb, in particular that of the Spanish guy Sergi Lopez(Harry, our friend). this story is not as usual about murders.This film has a special kind of quality in many aspects.
I want to mention as a remarkable fact, the song listened by Harry (the murder). This is "Ramona" sung by the Mexican Diva Dolores del Rio. It is strange but I love it ! This song is so ancient but I think it was a very good idea to include it as a part of the sound track. Congratulations ! September 13, 2008

Boundary problems . . .

Harry is one of those over-friendly people who seem to have no idea when they're getting too close to someone else - being too intimate, invading privacy, and taking inappropriate liberties. We get this about him from the start, as he makes his first move - in of all places a men's room - and the creepiness sets in long before we sense that he's more than a little obsessive, if not totally psychopathic.

Set in an isolated old farmhouse in the hilly, wooded French countryside, the story has misadventure written all over it, and viewers can gleefully let themselves sink into 2 hours of growing dread as Harry stealthily goes to town on the innocent family he adopts - all with a well-meaning smile on his face (not to mention the occasional odd quirk) and a sweet girlfriend by his side. As many others have already said here, it's a nicely done thriller that will keep you guessing and biting your nails to the diabolical end. October 14, 2007

With a Friend Like Harry

An intelligent and unsettling domestic thriller, Moll's "Harry" turns a man's frustrated writerly ambitions and confused existence into grist for another's twisted--and ultimately homicidal--handiwork. The suspense hinges partly on how Harry's logic-warping speeches to Michel fuse the psychology of self-realization with psychotic rationalization. Quietly dispatching anything standing in the way of Michel's long-suppressed dreams, Lopez inhabits the role of sinister motivational expert with dark charisma. Wickedly entertaining, with a perversely humorous kick, "Harry" is a troubled house guest you won't mind entertaining. July 30, 2007

fine, ambiguous thriller

With A Friend Like Harry is one of those exceptionally well done thrillers that demonstrates a certain artistic quality that so many poorly made, mass produced thriller movies lack. The convincing acting, the weird plot developments and the stress everyone seems to be under in this film make it a true thriller masterpiece.

The movie begins its creepy quality from almost the beginning of the film. Imagine! Michel (Laurent Lucas) is on a trip with his wife Claire (Mathilde Seigner) and their three daughters to their rundown summer cottage and just by pure coincidence (???) Michel meets someone he went to school with: Harry (Sergi López). In a matter of minutes the eager to please and modest Michel is already feeding into Harry's plans for him. Michel and his wife Claire let Harry and his girlfriend Plum accompany them to their summer home which they are renovating. Almost immediately you are stunned by the fact that Harry buys Michel and his family a SUV seemingly without wanting anything in return. Things do move in the first hour--but they don't move too fast. The director, Dominik Moll, makes sure that the scenes, acting and music slowly set you up for a creepy thriller roller coaster even if during the beginning there isn't a cloud in the sky.

Predictably, it's not long after Harry shows up (really just a few days in the film) that things in Michel's family begin to go horribly wrong. People drop like flies and eventually even Michel himself begins to have his doubts about Harry. Harry claims he just wants Michel to write again unencumbered by the stresses of his family responsibilities (the three girls, his wife). Is it that simple?

We never get a definitive answer to that question. Harry, of course, is a psychopath madly obsessed with Michel and Michel's writing. Is Harry planning to ultimately kill Michel after other people have died? Why does Harry continue to come by even after Claire's visit to him in the hotel where Harry is staying with his girlfriend Plum? We never really know with any certainty. In addition, I like the point one reviewer makes when they write that Michel's dislike of the SUV could represent French disdain for Americans. Is this absolutely clear in the movie? Of course not.

And therein lies the immense power of this film. The fact that we never know the answers to so many questions increases the power of the film exponentially: not unlike a piece of abstract modern art, Harry, Michel, Claire, Plum, and the others can be viewed differently by different viewers and still have meaning. Every viewer may interpret events and people as they personally wish them to be. Awesome!

The convincing acting stuns me; I even had goose bumps at one key point in the movie! The cinematography shines its best with the panoramic vistas of the French countryside; and the choreography doesn't falter once.

The DVD comes with few extras besides some unrelated previews for other movies; this is a disappointment but the brilliant film glows so brightly that I will forgive this disappointment.

In short, With A Friend Like Harry gives its audience a five star, first rate thriller. I disagree with others who say that there's comedy in the movie--the "creepiness factor" is so high from the very beginning that I focused on that alone.

I highly recommend this film for anyone who likes thriller movies with their inevitable plot twists and unexpected turns. I hope that you get this film, savor it and think about it for some while to come.
July 30, 2007

Hitchcock wannabe

This movie was too "in-your-face" to be a thriller.

It lacked any finesse. It was not polished and in the end, I felt a little cheated.

I have many of the movies done by Alfred Hitchcock & David Mamet. I find their movies well directed and have some genuine tense moments that leave you guessing what's going to happen next.

This movie however is about as subtle as a kick in the groin. The acting is passable but certainly not as enjoyable as a Hitchcock or Mamet movie. June 3, 2007

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