Featured Audience Ratings

• Dan S

  
  A beautiful, haunting piece of social realism, concerning an unemployed father who lies to his family about his new job, as well as to close friends who he tricks into giving their money for a made-up investment plan. While admittedly slow-paced and definitely not for all tastes,… More
  A beautiful, haunting piece of social realism, concerning an unemployed father who lies to his family about his new job, as well as to close friends who he tricks into giving their money for a made-up investment plan. While admittedly slow-paced and definitely not for all tastes, director Laurent Cantet never, for one second, drifts into melodrama like some dramas with subject matter like this sometimes do. With the exception of the pace of the film, this thing is nearly perfect, with a riveting last twenty minutes that contain a powerful, unexpected conclusion that you won't see coming. If anything, this deserves to be seen due to the current state of the economy, as it does its best to humanize any potential monsters, since in the end you do care about Vincent, even if he does do some horrendous things throughout the movie.

• John B

  
  A great French drama. Why do they have it listed as a documentary here? This thing isn't a damn documentary. Aurelien Recoing is fantastic as the man who seeks to hide the truth from his family as a matter of pride.

• Hal M

  
  A businessman has lost his job but can't quite admit it to those nearest and dearest, so he begins to prevaricate ("I'm going to get a job in a foreign country...yeah...I got it!...working for a Liberal Politically Correct Charity!"). Lie heaps upon lie. His… More
  A businessman has lost his job but can't quite admit it to those nearest and dearest, so he begins to prevaricate ("I'm going to get a job in a foreign country...yeah...I got it!...working for a Liberal Politically Correct Charity!"). Lie heaps upon lie. His nearest and dearest become suspicious. Pressure builds! Laurent Cantet does a great job in directing--cinematography, acting. Yet the story by Robin Campillo, with a Cantet co-credit, fails sadly. With so much build-up of suspense we REQUIRE a major payoff. There is none. Just a sort of epilogue as to what eventually happens to whatshizname. The air goes out of the balloon.

• Stephen E

  
  The first hour of "Time Out" is the most involving portion of the film; after that, it settles into a pretty basic formula that's predictable yet still intriguing. Laurent Cantent's moody direction mixed with documentary-style camerawork and Aurelien Recoing's… More
  The first hour of "Time Out" is the most involving portion of the film; after that, it settles into a pretty basic formula that's predictable yet still intriguing. Laurent Cantent's moody direction mixed with documentary-style camerawork and Aurelien Recoing's quiet, captivating central performance make watching the film a hauntingly effective experience. When it's all said and done, "Time Out" doesn't seem to have much of a point to it and the ending isn't as satisfying as I would have hoped for, but it's quite possibly one of the best dramatic pieces this side of the year 2000.