Vendredi soir (Friday Night) (2002)

79% of critics liked it
(53 reviews)
60% of users liked it
(513 ratings)

Paris resident Laure (Valerie Lemercier) has just finished packing her belongings in preparation for moving in with her lover, though she is oblivious to her apparent jitters at doing so. As she leaves her apartment for the night to join a pair of friends for dinner, Laure gets held up in traffic,… More Paris resident Laure (Valerie Lemercier) has just finished packing her belongings in preparation for moving in with her lover, though she is oblivious to her apparent jitters at doing so. As she leaves her apartment for the night to join a pair of friends for dinner, Laure gets held up in traffic, due to a crippling public transportation strike. As she waits in her car, she finds a sense of serenity in the midst of all the chaos and begins to watch a number of people as they work their way through the congestion. One man in particular attracts her attention, as he also seems to be calmly regarding the traffic jam and its participants. The man, Jean (Vincent Lindon), gets into Laure's car and transports her down a number of side streets and away from all the confusion -- as both the strangers begin to feel an attraction toward one another. Director Claire Denis' Vendredi Soir was selected to compete in a number of film festivals in 2002, including the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi

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Directed By: Claire Denis
Written By: Claire Denis, Emmanuelle Bernheim
Genres: Drama, Romance

In Theaters: May 2, 2003 Wide
Studio: Wellspring

Critic Reviews

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post
Beautiful and moody, fiercely intelligent and astoundingly chilly.
Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News
Might make action fans pull their hair out.
Erik Lundegaard, Seattle Times
Laure is uptight, slightly vacant, often confused. That the film becomes slightly surreal in the second half doesn't help.
Janice Page, Boston Globe
This one doesn't have the crackle of Denis's best efforts ... but it quietly rewards those who have enormous patience.
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
I didn't buy it for a minute, though I did enjoy it.
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com
This is a story about two lovers meeting improbably and fleetingly, but it's layered with strata of tenderness and deep bliss, as if a lifetime of connection could be packed into just one night.
Jay Antani, Los Angeles Alternative
a most rewarding cinematic journey
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
There's something about Denis's filmmaking style that is deeply affecting.
James Plath, Movie Metropolis
Friday Night, while beautifully filmed, doesn't pack the excitement you might expect.
Anton Bitel, Movie Gazette
an economically constructed road movie, beautiful to look at and full of minutely observed details
Shawn Levy, Oregonian
[Denis] creates so many dazzling little moments that she turns what might have been something slight and forgettable into something occasionally magical.
Jurgen Fauth, About.com
The film's wonderful final scene is a generous pay-off.
Luke Y. Thompson, New Times
...if you go with the ebb and flow, Friday Night can be as intoxicating as a good cocktail.
Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion
It will make you long for the weekend...a picture that seems to ramble its way through an essentially tepid little anecdote.
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone, TheMovieChicks.com
I would not want to spend my Friday Night watching this Friday Night. It's bad enough to sit through it on Wednesday morning.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Emil K

A film so absurd and ridicilous that after hour into it, it came almost unbearably bad. Claire Denis is definetly a skilled director. Her films like Beau Travail and The Intruder are good examples of that, but Vendredi Soir might be her biggest failure to date. Denis is aiming to… More
A film so absurd and ridicilous that after hour into it, it came almost unbearably bad. Claire Denis is definetly a skilled director. Her films like Beau Travail and The Intruder are good examples of that, but Vendredi Soir might be her biggest failure to date. Denis is aiming to create a similiar dreamlike film that Stanley Kubrick made with Eyes Wide Shut. A film where you are not sure what is dream and what is not. Instead she makes Venderdi Soir look like a parody of French-art - film. With all the jump-cuts and sudden bursts of animation this is so very uneven experience to watch. By the end it comes clear that Denis lost her touch with this film. Luckily she didn'y lost it for good.

Vendredi soir (Friday Night) (2002)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Emil K

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