Another Valentine's Day has come and gone, and so I offer (a little late) a celebration of love that has little to do with cupids and heart shaped boxes of chocolates.
Mon meilleur ami is a beautiful story about the importance of real friendship. The protagonist is François Coste, a high end antiques dealer in Paris who mistakes a long list of business contacts for a long list of friends. When he attends the funeral of one of these contacts he is astonished that only seven people attend (he himself is only there to finish a business deal); imagine his surprise when his business partner, Catherine, points out that there will be even fewer mourners at his own death. When he protests that he has many friends, she makes a bet: if François cannot produce his best friend, son meilleur ami, by the end of the month, he will have to give up a Greek vase that he bought on an impulse. The vase depicts the legendary friendship of Achilles and Patrochlus, and becomes a symbol of François's search for un meilleur ami. Alas, François is lacking in any kind of people skills, and so enlists the aid of a talkative taxi driver, Bruno, who seems to be friends with everyone. But for Bruno being friends with everybody is the same as being friends with nobody, and he needs François's friendship as much as François needs him. One is isolated by his own coldness, the other by betrayal, but each is equally alone.
I don't believe in spoilers, so I won't reveal any more of the plot. Suffice it say that the journey of these two lonely souls tells a powerful story about making, keeping, and having friends (and it stars my favorite French actor, Dany Boon. You have to see this movie).
Mon meilleur ami, as well as many other French films, can be found on Netflix under its English title
My Best Friend.
