By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Danièle Thompsoni
Starring: Blanca Li | Christopher Thompson | Danny Boon | Emmanuelle Seigner | Karin Viard | Laurent Stocker | Marina Fois | Marina Hands | Patrick Bruel | Patrick Chesnais | Pierre Arditi
Original language title: Le Code a Changé
Country: france
Year: 2010
Running time: 100
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1193088/
Bruce says: “Like her last film, AVENUE MONTAIGNE (aka ORCHESTRA SEATS), Danièle Thompson’s creates many characters all of whom interact with one another. In CHANGE OF PLANS they all get a chance to come together early on so they can spend the remainder of their screen time sorting things out. It all begins on the 21st of June at a dinner party hosted by high powered divorce lawyer ML (Karin Viard) and her unemployed Polish husband Piotr (Danny Boon). ML is out to impress Lucas (Christopher Thompson), a friend from a top law firm who is out to recruit her. It is touch and go whether or not his wife Sarah (Emmanuelle Seigner) will show up. Other guests include ML’s (ML is short for Marie-Laurence) gynecologist Melanie (Marina Foïs) who is having a secretive, passionate affair and her husband Alain (Patrick Bruel) a renowned oncologist currently undergoing a mid-life crisis. Afraid that some guest will cancel ML invites Manuela (Blanca Li) her flamenco instructor and Piotr invites Jean-Louis (Laurent Stocker) the man who has recently remodeled their home. ML’s sister Juliette (Marina Hands) arrives with her much older companion Erwann (Patrick Chesnais) to discover her estranged father (Pierre Arditi) is staying over at ML’s although he is not invited for dinner.
“The dinner party is not the success ML had hoped for several reasons. Several of the guests secretly knew each other beforehand, lending an air of unease to the evening; and several of the guests develop new relationships over the course of the evening, threatening existing ones. None of this is very clear until one year later when ML and Piotr plan on staging a ‘reunion’ dinner. During the planning process many of the mysteries of the first dinner become solved; however, new developments arise forcing the anniversary dinner to ultimately get canceled.
‘Writers Danièle Thompson and her son Christopher are skilled in developing dense plots with so many interlocking pieces. Following all the interplay is demanding but ultimately rewarding. CHANGE OF PLANS is a celebration of life’s foibles, amorous adventures, convictions and joys.
‘As a note of interest, the main dish at the dinner party is Bigos, a stew of cabbage and meat that is often dubbed the ‘national dish’ of Poland. There is no definitive recipe for Bigos. In the film, Piotr follows Roman Polanski’s recipe. How did the filmmakers get access to Roman Polanski’s recipe? Easy, he is married to Emmanuelle Seigner. 4.5 cats”